Photos and Video: The Aga Khan Museum’s Superb 2018 Year-End Winter Outdoor Show, Light Up the Dark

By ABDULMALIK MERCHANT (Report and photos) and ZUL JIWANI (Video)

The Aga Khan Museum Light Show, Sunday, December 30, 2018. Photo: Simergphotos/Malik Merchant.

Tonight, December 31, the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto, Canada, hosts a special New Year’s Eve program of dinner, music and dance for which all tickets have been snapped up ($150.00 for a pair or $100.00 for one). However, the last 4 days (December 27 – 30) have been a treat for the few thousand who came to the Museum grounds to watch the light show entitled Light Up the Dark. The 15 minute video segment, repeated uninterrupted for 4 hours, was projected on the facade of the museum building from dusk to around 9 PM. The Aga Khan Museum lies exactly opposite the Ismaili Centre and they share the Aga Khan Park which divides the two architectural pieces built by His Highness the Aga Khan, 49th Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims.

Aga Khan Museum Light Show, Sunday, December 30, 2018. One of 3 Freeman vans from which the audio visual light show was projected onto the museum facade. In the background (from left) stand the flags of the Ismaili Imamat, the City of Toronto, the Province of Ontario and Canada’s Maple Leaf at the grounds of the Aga Khan Museum, the Aga Khan Park and the Ismaili Centre. Photo: Simergphotos/Malik Merchant.

Crowd watches the light show projected on the museum facade; Ismaili Centre dome in the background. Photo: Simergphotos/Malik Merchant.

The light show was free as was the entrance to the museum’s exhibits on the ground floor. On the night of its opening (Thursday, December 27), only 300 visitors took to the grounds. The misty drizzle throughout the evening may have contributed to the low turn-out. Crowds really picked up on the remaining 3 days with the attendance peaking on Sunday, when more than 2000 visitors walked through the doors of the museum at the time the light exhibit was running. The grounds looked beautiful with the thin layer of snow that had fallen on Saturday night. Otherwise, there has been very little snow in Toronto over the past few weeks.

A view of the Aga Khan Park where 3 parked vans – one is shown above – projected images onto the Aga Khan Museum wall. The trees and the grounds looked beautiful with snow that had fallen earlier. Photo: Simergphotos/Malik Merchant.

The Museum is an ideal setting for a show such as this because of its long facade structure. Also, the Museum entrance faces an open area – the Aga Khan Park – from which crowds can comfortably view the entire facade. The Parliament Building in Ottawa hosts multiple laser shows starting at dusk during the summer portraying the history and culture of Canada. Perhaps, the Aga Khan Museum can look into the possibility of a thematic presentation once or twice a week after dusk during the summer months.

The light show’s final image invites people to walk into the museum to warm-up with hot drinks. I have to say the quality of the coffee was excellent and the beef and vegetable samosas ($1.00 a piece) prepared at the Diwan restaurant were delicious, so much so that I decided to have 2 dozen packed for home.

A poster in the Aga Khan Museum’s educational unit prepared by young children. Photo: Simergphotos/Malik Merchant.

The elegant Bellerive Room at the Aga Khan Museum houses some of the Islamic art collection of Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan (1993 – 2003) and Catherine Aga Khan. Photo: Simergphotos/Malik Merchant.

A Central Asian yurt in the courtyard inside the Aga Khan Museum building, surrounded by festive lights. Photo: Simergphotos/Malik Merchant.

Once indoors, I saw that large numbers of people were visiting the museum shop and the beautiful and classy Bellerive Room that contains art work from the collection of the Late Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan and his beloved wife Catherine Aga Khan. The yurt that dominates the courtyard inside the museum was the also a center of attraction. Yurts are traditional dwelling places of nomads from Central Asia. Made to resist extreme climates, yurts have five basic elements: lattice walls, roof beams, a roof ring, a door, and a felt and hide covering. Since the 13th century, yurts have been used by nomadic horse herders as portable homes.

The Aga Khan Museum facade in normal daylight. Two of the 3 vans projecting images on the wall are shown in the photo. The 3rd one was stationed at the right. Photo: Simergphotos/Malik Merchant.

The Aga Khan Museum facade with the light projection from the vans mapped out to exactly fit the museum wall tiles shown in the preceding photo. Photo: Simergphotos/Malik Merchant.

Three vans from Freeman audio-visual projected the images onto the facade. In speaking to one of the technicians on duty, I found out that the mapping of the images onto the museum wall’s tiles was one of the more difficult challenges, and once that was accomplished the rest was a breeze! The mapping has been done very well, and this is where the light show truly excels – during the transition from one image to the next when the museum tiles are literally thought to be laying in or out in front of your eyes. The 3-D morphing effect was superb. The 15-minute segment was just about right for this time of the year. Saturday evening was particularly cold but more than 1300 people still showed up. There was absolutely no snow until the following day.

The Aga Khan Museum Light Show, Sunday, December 30, 2018. Photo: Simergphotos/Malik Merchant.

Aga Khan Museum Light Show, Sunday, December 30, 2018. Projection of an artistic piece. Photo: Simergphotos/Malik Merchant.

Aga Khan Museum Light Show, Sunday, December 30, 2018. Projection of an artistic piece. Photo: Simergphotos/Malik Merchant.

Aga Khan Museum Light Show, Sunday, December 30, 2018. Projection of a clip from a concert held at the museum. Photo: Simergphotos/Malik Merchant.

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WATCH VIDEO (1 minute 32 seconds)

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Aga Khan Museum Light Show, Sunday, December 30, 2018. Projection of a clip from a concert held at the museum. Photo: Simergphotos/Malik Merchant.

Aga Khan Museum Light Show, Sunday, December 30, 2018. Projection of an artistic piece. Photo: Simergphotos/Malik Merchant.

Aga Khan Museum Light Show, Sunday, December 30, 2018. Projection of an artistic piece. Photo: Simergphotos/Malik Merchant.

Aga Khan Museum Light Show, Sunday, December 30, 2018. Close-up of the previous photo. Photo: Simergphotos/Malik Merchant.

An iconic sculpture at the north end of the the Aga Khan Museum facade. For description, see enlarged plaque image below. Photo: Simergphotos/Malik Merchant.

See preceding sculpture photo. Photo: Simergphotos/Malik Merchant.

Aga Khan Museum Light Show, Sunday, December 30, 2018. Projection of an artistic piece. Photo: Simergphotos/Malik Merchant.

The Aga Khan Museum Light Show, Sunday, December 30, 2018. Photo: Simergphotos/Malik Merchant.

Aga Khan Museum Light Show, Sunday, December 30, 2018. Projection of artistic pieces (transition image). Photo: Simergphotos/Malik Merchant.

Aga Khan Museum Light Show, Sunday, December 30, 2018. Projection of an artistic piece. Photo: Simergphotos/Malik Merchant.

Aga Khan Museum Light Show, Sunday, December 30, 2018. Slide inviting the audience to step into the museum to warm up and view the artistic exhibits. Photo: Simergphotos/Malik Merchant.

At future events, more iconic art work from the museum’s magnificent collection (such as a page from the magnificent Shahnameh, one of the best pieces in the Museum’s collection) should be added with a little bit of commentary. It might be of interest to note that the international arts magazine, Apollo, in its issue dated August 29, 2018 recommended the Shahnameh piece at the Aga Khan museum as one of the pieces that every school kid in the USA needs to see. One of the contributor’s to the article, Gary Tinterow, Director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, writes as follows:

“I would take my students on a field trip to Toronto to see this miracle of miniature painting, one that continues to fascinate when greatly magnified. It features extraordinary details of flora and fauna, as well as a rainbow coalition of human beings from every continent and culture, much as one sees on the streets of Toronto.” [1]

I did feel that some of the musical projections could have been minimized to inform the public more about future programming. Or perhaps the video could have been extended by two more minutes for a number of current and future programs to be incorporated. The visitors were only informed about one future exhibition. It is about the Moon which will be inaugurated on March 9, 2019. Space, of course, is everyone’s favourite topic with all that is taking place in that frontier due to human intelligence and courage.

Aga Khan Museum Light Show, Sunday, December 30, 2018. Projection of an artistic piece. Photo: Simergphotos/Malik Merchant.

“Light up the Dark” was an excellent event and one hopes that Toronto’s residents as well as visitors to the city will make it a point to visit to Aga Khan Museum in the New Year.

For timings, please visit the Aga Khan Museum website at http://www.Agakhanmuseum.org. We should point out that the museum is free to the public on Wednesday evenings from 5 PM to closing time. The exceptional Diwan restaurant which normally only serves lunch is open on Wednesday evenings.

We wish all our readers a very happy and prosperous 2019.

Date posted: December 31, 2018.

Last updated: January 1, 2019.

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Notes:

[1] For Apollo magazin’es article “The museum pieces that every school kid in the US needs to see,” please visit https://www.apollo-magazine.com/museum-objects-usa/