Four years ago, when the curator Sabiha Al Khemir started preparing an exhibition on the role of light in Islamic art, her plan was to select artworks and objects that visually expressed light or had a direct scientific connection with it.

But as she proceeded with her research, Ms. Al Khemir, a Tunisian-born expert on Islamic art, started expanding the show’s scope because “I got to understand that Islam makes a clear link with light even when that link is far from apparent,” she said in an interview here. “Islam is also very much about the light of knowledge that fights the ignorance of darkness,” she added.

The result is an exhibition of 150 works, “Nur: Light in Art and Science from the Islamic World,” which runs through Feb. 9 at the Fundación Focus-Abengoa, a cultural center, and spans eleven centuries.

The achievements of our elders in all fields are celebrated the world over. Great exhibitions of stunning art are shown around the World. We have to ask ourselves this : Are we leaving behind any achievements for our children to celebrate? What legacy of Islam are we leaving for the future?

Original Source: nytimes.com