Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan the UAE Minister of Culture, Youth and Social Development, opened The Golden Age of Arab Sciences exhibition in Paris – Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, September 24 2013. This is an exhibition where Islam’s contribution to science and the arts is chronicled with the hope that it will encourage Muslim students to emulate the likes of Ibn Sina and al-Khwarizmi.
The exhibition is divided into three segments – Sky and Earth, Humanity, and the Arts which facilitates the understanding of the contributions that Islam has embedded into the roots of scientific and cultural knowledge across the world.
The exhibition is in a format which is engaging and interactive with video displays as well as static museum inspired displays. Reprints of works by Islamic scholars and models of astrolabes and other instruments used for navigation and astronomy are displayed. Visitors to the exhibition which will run from September 24 2013 to January 14 2014 will be able to learn about the immense contribution made by Islamic scholars in the fields of medicine, astronomy, geography and mathemetics.
The exhibition displays are in Arabic and French – perhaps the culturally sensitive French management at Paris-Sorbonne Abou Dhabi does not want to pollute their culture by adding descriptions in English. But had they done so, visitors with limited Arabic and French skills would also have benefitted. While the range of items on display is good to give one a feeling about the impact of Islam on Science, the Ibn Battuta Mall in Dubai perhaps has a better display of astronomy and geography related works of Islamic scholars. The name of the exhibition may be politically correct but should have been called “The Golden Age of Islamic Sciences” as many scholars from Uzbekistan or Iran figure prominently in the show.
