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Islamic Art treasures in Europe,

Documentary, 2008, 115'min min.

"God is Beautiful and Loves Beauty", Beauty and utility go hand in hand; they are two inseparable aspects of perfection, as envisaged by the Prophetic tradition: "God has prescribed perfection in all things". It is connected with the concept of ihsan as set forth in the Hadith of Gabriel, whereby the religion rests on three fundamental principles: Islam (submission to the Divine Will), Iman (faith), and Ihsan. Ihsan may be translated as 'spiritual virtue' or simply virtue, and includes the ideas of beauty and perfection. More exactly it means inward beauty, beauty of the soul or of the heart, which necessarily emanates outwards, transforming every human activity into an art and every art into the remembrance of God.

Three museums in three European metropolis namely: London - British Museum, Berlin – The Pergamon Museum and Paris - the Louvre Museum house a treasure of exquisite beauty and value of Islamic art from the 7th century Umayyads and Abbasid period throughout the Fatimid, the Seljuk till modern times, from architecture to scientific objects, miniature paintings, calligraphy, pottery, textiles etc.

In 4 documentaries, of 30 min, in each museum, we will have an overview of the collection, exploring its diversity its historical and geographical origin as well as its spiritual and practical value, and its influence on western aesthetic and form.

By means of interviews with art historian and specialized curator and artists of an Islamic background, we will walk in the path of Islamic art history and its transaction and relation with the west and the specific culture of the country that house the collection.

We will also take a look at the city that house the museum and take a glimpse of its inhabitant and their environment.

Then we deepen our view in to one specific object of art from the collection, concentrating at the spiritual, poetic and musical meaning of the specific object as well as its historical and practical meaning.

Finally we experience a journey into the exquisite, the delicate and the knowledge and wisdom of a cultural expression of civilization.

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