What did I learn about my own creative tendencies? That my creative tendencies are infantile. The exhibit made my most impressive and proud work look like refrigerator art. And that’s saying something, because I have a 3 paintings hanging in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Picasso’s Guernica hung only 23 feet from my magnum opera--until 1981, of course, when Guernica was returned to Spain. Were Pablo still alive, I’m sure he’d be honored.
But enough about me...
I was excited for this assignment. I was planning on going to the exhibit anyway. Mostly because I’m refined and cultured and appreciate that sort of thing, but also because many of the Muslim dignitaries that were here for the opening last week were guests at my hotel. They’re a silly bunch. Not really, though. But it was fascinating to talk to them, they were very impressed with and proud of the exhibit. And many of them were very excited at the prospect of meeting the “Mormon Prophet,” who was rumored to attend the opening.
One thing I loved about the artwork was how much it incorporated the written word. The exhibit said “the letter is the vessel for the sacred meaning, and this vessel was made as beautiful as possible so that its beauty is worthy of belief.” The various fonts of calligraphy and the intricate decorations on the pages of Qur'an manuscripts were not only extremely artistic and beautiful, but you could feel the faith of the artist. Great art abounds from all nations and eras. But I don’t think I have ever seen art with this amount of piety. There is no way the artists could have sanely completed works such as these without a deep abiding faith in their creator. The attention to detail and symmetry on these manuscript pages glorifies God. God is perfect, and the originators sought to spread His perfect word with the most beauty and perfection that they could aspire to. The motivation for these works was not monetary, and that’s the most fascinating thing. The sole purpose was to create a beautiful medium in which to spread the word of God.
The rest of the art was beautiful and mesmerizing to behold, but none of it truly inspired me as did the written work. It humbled me to consider how much love a believer must have in their faith to produce something of that quality to edify God. The closest thing I can equate it to is the artistry inside the Salt Lake temple. The original furnishings and decoration--particularly in the Celestial room--are intricate and spiritually stirring in their beauty. To think on the situation the Saints at the time, the greatness of the project and the perfection to which they completed it is truly inspiring. We revere those artisan saints and wonder at the beauty of their work, and recognize the grandeur of their faith in God and faith in the restoration. Surely the faith of the Muslim artisans is on par with that of our pioneer forefathers. Certainly 1.6 billion people gotta be right about something.
I actually really appreciated something that was said here--something that I did not even really think about when pondering my own visit to the Islamic Art exhibit. Mentioned in this post was that--especially for the written word--the creators who put SO much attention to detail into their creations, were not paid. It truly was their faith in and devotion to their god and religion that caused them to put so much effort into these writings.
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