Event Details

Scheduled to open on September 18th 2014, the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto, Canada is dedicated to presenting an overview of the artistic, intellectual, and scientific contributions that Muslim civilizations have made to world heritage. The Museum will be a vibrant educational institution, encouraging a full spectrum of public engagement with its diverse permanent collection of more than 1,000 objects and its ever-changing roster of exhibitions and innovative programs – including music, performances, culinary traditions, lectures, debates, special events, or film.

This application is for “Rumi Exhibition (working title) and Rhythms of Canada Festival”, taking place at the Museum from May 13 to October 1, 2023. Programming includes:

(1) Commemorating the 750th anniversary of Rumi’s spiritual return to the Divine, the exhibition will celebrate the vast impact of his life, poetry, and mystical thought. The main narrative of the exhibition will be told in the Museum’s temporary exhibition gallery and address Rumi’s life, legend and legacy and will be accompanied by an installation in the Aga Khan Park by artists Matt Donovan and Hallie Siegel who will create an intervention involving the Park’s reflecting pools (May to September (exact dates TBC) employing an iconic Rumi saying that will be on display from May to September. The exhibition will feature historical works of art as well as installations by contemporary artists, including Afghan Canadian artist Hangama Amiri, Iranian Canadian artist Simin Keramati, and Turkish Canadian artist Erdem Taşdelen. The exhibition will also feature contemplation hubs and interactive stations for visitors. The exhibition’s run will also include Labour Day Weekend and Nuit Blanche for which the Museum, Park and the Ismaili Centre, have become a major hub. In 2022, the site attracted close to 4,000 visitors for Nuit Blanche and the Museum hopes to return to pre-pandemic attendance numbers for Nuit at 6,000 to 8,000 visitors.

The Museum has secured Massey College as a major programming partner for this exhibition. Both institutions will jointly run a high-profile, widely promoted series of talks and conversations during the early run of the exhibition. Other new programming partnerships are also currently in development, including with the Consulate General of Türkiye and Yunus Emre Institute in Toronto, the Toronto International Festival of Authors, as well as further development of existing programming partnerships, such as with Rumi Canada (an organization inspired by Rumi’s Sufi mysticism).

(2) The “Rhythms of Canada Festival” (June 30 to July 3 (exact dates TBC) will be one the major programmatic cornerstone events of the exhibition. The festival experience, programmed across the Aga Khan Museum, Aga Khan Park and Ismaili Centre, Toronto, will showcase a variety of activities including live performances, workshops, a souk-style festival market, and food trucks.