British Museum to stage ‘Hajj: Journey to the heart of Islam’

The Guardian today reports plans by the British Museum to stage a major exhibition about the Islamic Hajj Pilgrimage to Makkah.

The exhibition, which will open in January 2012, “will bring together historic and contemporary objects – including manuscripts, textiles, archaeological items and photography – to explore the experience and importance of the pilgrimage.”

The exhibition will feature installations from contemporary Saudi Arabian artists such as Ahmed Mater and Shadia Alem, as well as rare objects related to the Hajj and collections of pilgrims’ diaries.

The Hajj annually attracts millions of pilgrims to Makkah; the director of the British Museum, Neil Macgregor describes it as “one of the great administrative achievements in the world”.

Macgregor stated that global audiences’ understandings of the significance and history of the Hajj would be deepened,

“It is special in being the only aspect of Islam which non-Muslims cannot take part in. It is not merely a spiritual phenomenon, it has become a cultural phenomenon. The museum has always sought to present a connection between faith and society. It [the hajj] is a phenomenon that needs to be better understood than it is. It has become very clear to us that we’ve been looking to put on exhibitions about things people want to know about – such as Iran and Afghanistan – and questions people want to explore.”