| Description |
The website presents the collections of Doris Duke's Shangri La on the internet, where it can be searched by keyword or browsed by materials, country or period.
Unconstrained by the organizing principles of museum exhibitions, Shangri La, the estate of art collector Doris Duke in Hawaii, provides a unique environment for the study of Islamic art and culture. The estate houses around 3,500 objects, many of which are embedded into the structure of the house. Most of the collection can be classified as Islamic art and artifacts although other cultural traditions are also represented.
Description of the collection from the website:
"Doris Duke's collection exemplifies the assemblage of diverse cultures often included in the monolithic term "Islamic art." It includes religious works of art and ones made for everyday life; objects from around the globe; and ones suggestive of different lifestyles such as court, city, village, and nomad. A great variety of media- a celebrated aspect of Islamic art� is juxtaposed in nearly every room: wood, paper, enamel, stone, glass, ceramic, metal, and fiber. Objects date as early as 1500 B.C. to as late as the 20th century, including Duke's commissions from living Muslim artisans.
Particular types of Islamic art abound in the interior and exterior spaces of Shangri La, especially ceramics, which comprise about one fifth of the collection. Duke also favored decorative arts of the 17th through 19th centuries, particularly those made during the reigns of the Ottoman, Mughal, Safavid, and Qajar dynasties.
Because she collected for pleasure, rather than for social prestige or monetary value, Duke filled Shangri La with lesser known arts including furniture, doors, and hybrids that blend Islamic and other artistic traditions. The collection may challenge and expand our expectations of what constitutes Islamic art." |
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