A Museum Curator’s Journey with Islamic Art

Massumeh Farhad (left), one of the world's top experts in Islamic art, examines Islamic ceramics with a colleague at the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington

By Lauren Monsen | Staff Writer | 07 December 2011 

Washington — For art historian Massumeh Farhad, inspiring museum visitors “to read more, to learn more” about Islamic culture is the most rewarding aspect of her job.

Farhad holds the dual position of chief curator and curator of Islamic art at the Smithsonian Institution’s Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in Washington. “What I enjoy are the interconnections of the Islamic world with China, with Europe,” she said. “To break down the ‘us and them’ notions about different cultures — that’s one of my main responsibilities.”

The Freer and Sackler galleries house “one of the best [Islamic art] collections in the world, in terms of quality,” she said. “We’re focused on showing the richness and diversity of Islamic culture. There’s a long history of artistic expression” within Islam.

She has been steeped in that history all her life. Born in Tehran, Farhad lived there until age 12, when she was sent to boarding school in England. “I was going back and forth [between Iran and England] regularly,” she said. She remembers traveling around Iran with her family and driving past ancient monuments and ruins that fired her imagination.

Farhad was especially intrigued by the western Iranian city of Isfahan, famous for its Islamic architecture, covered bridges, palaces, mosques and minarets. “It’s one of these fairy-tale cities, and it’s really quite stunning,” she said.

Her education also steered her toward the arts. “In England, we had a very severe art teacher, but she was also very good,” Farhad said. “She gave us a very strong background in Renaissance art. It sparked my curiosity.”

Farhad attended Wellesley College in Massachusetts, where she focused on contemporary Western art. After completing her bachelor’s degree in 1978, Farhad said, she hoped to spend some time traveling in Iran to get a sense of what she wanted to do professionally.

The Iranian revolution disrupted her plans, so she returned to the United States and started taking courses in Islamic art at Harvard University. Her professor was Oleg Grabar, a leading figure in the field of Islamic art and architecture. “He had an incredible impact; he was very charismatic,” Farhad said. “That was it; I decided to go for a Ph.D., studying with him.”

Harvard University also brought Farhad into the orbit of another influential professor: Stuart Cary Welch, a connoisseur and collector of Indian and Islamic art. “He was an amazing teacher,” she said. “I was very fortunate to have studied with these two great giants.”

Farhad earned a doctorate in Persian manuscripts of the 17th century. She concentrates primarily on arts of the book from 16th- and 17th-century Iran, but has curated exhibitions on many types of Islamic art, including art of the Persian courts, inlaid metalwork from the 10th to 19th centuries, imperial costumes from Ottoman Turkey, gifts from Turkish and Iranian rulers to Russian czars, and books of omens (16th- and 17th-century books from Iran and Turkey used to predict the future).

Persian manuscripts, with their calligraphy and painted miniatures, are “wonderful for the intricacies, the color, the richness of the paintings, and the delicacy” of their illuminated imagery, Farhad said. “They’re each a window into the historical moment in which they were made.”

“The whole Middle East, and Iran, have gotten a lot of attention in recent years,” she said. At the Freer and Sackler galleries, “we’re showing the region’s complexity through its art.”

“The arts of the Islamic world are not monolithic, and it’s important for all of us — not only outside, but within, the Islamic world — to understand that.”

“Each exhibition I’ve curated has been an incredible learning experience for me,” Farhad said. “In many ways, it’s that sense of wonder that’s important to convey to audiences. We’re all on this journey; let’s travel it together.”