Lauding Louvre for Islamic Gallery, Hindus urge world museums to show Hindu art also

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Hindus have applauded Musee du Louvre, world’s top museum located in Paris, for opening exclusive Islamic Art Gallery, representing a milestone in its history.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that “it was a step in the right direction”. Interfaith dialogue resulting from such efforts would bring harmony, trust and cohesiveness among the world community and help reducing misunderstandings, Zed added.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, urged major art museums of the world, including Musee du Louvre and Musee d'Orsay of Paris, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Los Angeles Getty Center, Uffizi Gallery of Florence (Italy), Art Institute of Chicago, Tate Modern of London, Prado Museum of Madrid, National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, etc., to also open Hindu galleries and to frequently organize Hindu art focused exhibitions, thus sharing the rich Hindu art heritage with the rest of the world.

Art had a long and rich tradition in Hinduism and ancient Sanskrit literature talked about religious paintings of deities on wood or cloth, Rajan Zed pointed out.

According to reports, this gallery, partly funded by French government, containing significant collection of Islamic art and opening on September 22 in the 19th century Cour Visconti, cost nearly 100m Euros and took a decade. Louvre has about 18,000 objects of Islamic art in its collection and about 3,000 will be displayed in this gallery, spanning 1,300 years of history and three continents and as old as 8th century, and “encompassing decorative arts, objects, miniatures, textiles and carpets, components of architecture”. Sophie Makariou and Gwenaelle Fellinger are Director and Deputy Director of the gallery respectively; 

Founded in 1793 in Louvre which has dominated central Paris since late 12th century, Musee du Louvre, also sometimes referred as “museum among museums”, besides “Mona Lisa”, also contains universally admired works like “Venus de Milo” and the “Victory of Samothrace”.  It received about 8.9 million visitors last year and it headed the world’s top museums list published by The Art Newspaper of United Kingdom few months back. Henri Loyrette and Herve Barbaret are President and Managing Director respectively.