Kuwait's art exhibit boosts ties with Italy - visitors

ROME, July 28 (KUNA) -- Italian visitors to the "Art of the Islamic Civilization" exhibition, organized by Kuwait's Dar Al-Athar Al-Islamiyyah (DAI) in Rome, 25 July - 20 September, shared the view that the event will help boost cultural ties between Italy and the Islamic and Arab worlds.
The exhibition, held at the Scuderie del Quirinale museum in the Italian capital, highlights the Islamic civilization through the ages.
Rome Cultural Heritage Superintendent Claudio Parisi Presicce lauded the exhibition held under auspices of His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, for the rare Islamic items on display, especillay "Al-Sabah Collection," unquestionably one of the most important in the world, in terms of the quality and originality of the works of art it contains.
The exhibition does not only show the copious cultural and artistic dimensions of the Islamic civilization, but will play a significant role for consolidating joint action for the world's welfare as well, Presicce added.
For his part, general commissioner of the Rome's Museum Authority Sergio Cipolletta, said the exhibition is "a significant step towards cultural integration between the Islamic and the Western Civilization." In addition, it will help visitors get a close look on features of the Islamic civilization through the centuries, Cipolletta added.
For Chief of Staff of the Italian Air Force, Lieutenant General Pasquale Preziosa, the event offers a good chance to enhance cultural ties between the two countries. He highlighted Kuwait's prominent cultural status.
Italian ambassador in Kuwait Fabrizio Nicoletti said that the "marvelous event" is the first of its kind, hailing bilateral "distinguished" ties.
Nicoletti noted that the event and Kuwait's pavilion in the Expo Milan 2015, are two signals of the elevated cooperation and coordination in all fields.
The event features up to 363 unique pieces, including jewels and manuscripts, that were carefully chosen to manifest the arts of the Islamic civilization and their historical contribution in the intermingling of cultures through ages.
It is divided into two parts; The first, which is strictly chronological, begins with a small numismatic section designed to provide a historical and geographical introduction to the main stages in the development of Muslim civilizations.
It ends with the three great 16th century empires: the Turkish Ottoman Empire in the Mediterranean; the Iranian Safavid Empire and the Indian Mughal Empire with its fairy-tale opulence.
The second part of the exhibition probes the crucial artistic themes and modes of Islamic art, ranging from the formal stringency of its mesmerizing calligraphy and its learned and scientific exploration of the world of mathematics and geometry, to the endless imagery of the repeated floral motif known as the Arabesque and the abstract and realistic depiction of animal and human figures.
The exhibition ends with the glittering splendor of treasure, in the shape of the items of the goldsmith's art that are the boast of the Al-Sabah Collection, which in terms of the quantity and quality of its pieces in this field is unrivalled anywhere in the world. (end) mn.am.msa