Toronto Tour
November 10-12, 2017
Field Trip to Toronto, Canada
Saturday, November 11
9:45 am Assemble at the entrance to the Aga Khan Museum (taxi is best means of transport)
10:00 am Permanent Collection Galleries
View the recently installed galleries of the superb collection of Islamic art largely assembled by the late Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan and Princess Catherine Aga Khan, with more recent additions acquired by his nephew, the present Aga Khan, for the Museum with loans from public and private collections.
11:00 am Highlights from the Bruschettini Collection
Guided walk through of the exhibition with museum curator Dr. Filiz Çakir-Phillip.
The Bruschettini Foundation for Islamic and Asian Art is world-renowned for its superb collection of Islamic art, and in particular, its carpets. This special exhibition will showcase a fascinating selection of masterpieces including 13th- to 17th-century carpets, textiles, polychrome Iznik wares, paintings, and precious inlaid metalwork selected from the collection. It is a rare opportunity to see these works of art outside of their home in Genoa, Italy.
12:00 pm Lunch at Diwan in the Aga Khan Museum
Family-style lunch in the restaurant’s dining room, decorated with elements from a 19th-century Damascene house.
2:30 pm Diligence and Elegance: The Nature of Japanese Textiles
Curator Natalia Nekrassova will guide us through the exhibition Diligence and Elegance; The Nature of Japanese Textiles.
Diligence and Elegance: The Nature of Japanese Textiles presents over 50 textiles and garments from the Textile Museum of Canada’s collection of 19th and 20th century artifacts made in Japan for both everyday and occasional use. Luxurious silk and gold fabrics produced in Kyoto’s professional weaving workshops are juxtaposed with domestic indigo-dyed cotton, plant-fiber cloth, and silk kimonos crafted in an astonishing spectrum of time-honored techniques – weaving, dyeing, hand painting, gold foil application and embroidery – that exemplify venerable social and cultural values. Diligence and Elegance features the contemporary work of Hiroko Karuno and Keiko Shintani, two Japanese-Canadians whose consummate craftsmanship and philosophies are profoundly connected to the evolution of Japanese textile traditions of spinning, dyeing and weaving.
Banu – Iranian Kabob and Vodka Bar (Dinner)
Private Home Tour
Long time Hajji Baba Club members and renowned collectors invite us into their home for a visit and viewing of selected pieces.
For those going to the airport following this visit, you may bring your luggage as there is adequate safe storage available. Porter Air (13 flights daily to Newark) is 10 minutes away. Pearson Airport is 45 minutes to an hour away, depending on traffic. Taxis are plentiful.
For those continuing on, take taxis to lunch on Bloor Street
Senior Curator Elizabeth Semmelhack, will guide us through highlights of the collection and current exhibitions, as well as taking us into the magnificent collection storage, a rare treat. Founded by Sonja Bata, the Bata Shoe Museum’s collection of over 13,000 shoes and related items is intended as a world-class research and exhibition facility for footwear. A variety of exhibitions explores the cultural context of shoes worldwide, both historically and currently.