Ackland Exhibit Illuminates Islam

But with such a heightened opportunity for religious dialogue, the staff at the Ackland wouldn't have it any other way.

Andy Berner, director of communications at the Ackland, said the point of the project is to educate the public, and particularly students in North Carolina's public schools, about different religions.

"It's a model program that the museum has been working on to use works of art as vehicles for talking about diverse religious traditions," he said.

The Five Faiths Project, which encompasses Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam, was founded in 1996 as a way to supply K-12 students in the public school system with the world cultures component mandated by the state education curriculum.

The project will have installments featuring all five faiths over the next year, and will mark the fruition of more than seven years of hard work and planning by members of the Ackland and contributors.

A three-year grant from the Henry Luce Foundation of New York funds discussions to help teachers address these topics. While other helpful materials are still in development, they're awaiting a new source of funding.

"We're bringing in people from all over the country to discuss what kind of language you use to talk about art and different faiths," Berner said. "We're also coming out with materials to supply to teachers, including posters representing the five faiths and CDs with storytelling in each tradition."

But with much of the effort for the project being spent on education, parallel displays at the Ackland have almost been an afterthought.

"We're really concentrating on this series of meetings and these teacher materials," Berner said.

Ongoing exhibits are continually focusing on other religions. One recent show titled "Mass and Masterpiece" centered on Catholicism.

The Islamic exhibit contains works of calligraphy, prayer mats and mosque lamps.

These pieces and the myriad others featured in the Five Faiths Project have come from several sources, including the Ackland's permanent collection, private collectors and other museums.

For instance, the upcoming Buddhist exhibit will include a commissioned tonka painting by a Nepali artist arriving later this year, but a sand mandala created by Buddhist monks in the Ackland a year and a half ago was also part of the project. The Ackland has also been expanding its permanent holdings of Jewish and Hindu art.

"It's something that we're doing constantly, but different things are happening at different times," Berner said.

This unique timing for the Islamic art exhibit has been particularly fortuitous given the religious debates on campus. The choice to show the Islam exhibit at this point was made long ago, but that fact did not prevent nervousness on the part of the Ackland staff.

Berner said that some were concerned, especially given the similarities between the titles of the Ackland exhibit and that of the summer reading book selection, but that they have found the recent controversy beneficial.

What the situation has done, Berner said, is make the staff more sensitive to complaints that the Five Faiths Project was itself exclusionary of other religions.

"We're not saying these are the only five faiths. These are major faiths, and they're giving us a place to start a discussion," he said.

"Word and Worship: Approaching Islam Through Art" runs through Dec. 29.

The Arts & Entertainment Editor can be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.