THE MUSLIM WORLD

Paintings, Drawings, Prints and Costumes from the Victoria & Albert Museum, London

The Searight Collection is the world's greatest collection of western views of the Near East and Africa.  It is a unique pictorial record of the cultural interaction between the Occident and the Orient before the widespread use of photography. 

• There are paintings and drawings by over 700 artists depicting people, places and scenes from all over the Islamic world.
• Areas represented extend from Morocco to Afghanistan.  Turkey, Egypt and the Levant were the areas most frequented by Western visitors, but more remote regions such as the Caucasus and the Persian Gulf are also covered.
• Material dates from the 16th to the 20th centuries, with a heavy emphasis on the period from 1770 to 1920.
• There is also a fascinating section of costume designs, with costumes ranging from religious clothing to the outfits worn by royalty.

This project is an essential source for any study of Islamic art and will  be of interest to art, architecture, history and cultural studies departments.