Victoria & Albert museum arrives to Damascus

A first-of-its-kind international art exhibition is on display in the Old City’s historic Khan As’ad Pasha this month, an extraordinary – and free – show marking the closing of the year of culture and the potential opening of more high-profile exhibitions in the future. The Victoria & Albert Museum, the legendary institute in London, has brought more than 100 rare ceramic pieces from all over the world, ranging from 1,500 BC to the 20th Century to Damascus as part of a traveling tour.The exhibition, which is the prestigious V&A’s first ever in Syria and the Middle East, will also include 13 Syrian pieces that have been in storage at the National Museum of Damascus.

“I’m thrilled and I’m very proud,” said May Marmarbashi, a local businesswoman and Islamic art expert who is managing the event. This is an exhibition for those who might not jump out of their seats normally for ceramics: It’s not just the ancient shard and pots one might imagine, but truly “outstanding” pieces, Marmarbashi said.

While studying for her Islamic art doctorate in London, Marmarbashi saw many of the pieces at the museum and is ecstatic that they can now “be seen by a major part of the community who cannot travel,” she said.

Song and Ming dynasties of China and a painted Picasso vase showing the artist at his easel. Of course, the khan itself, once used to lodge caravanning silk and spice merchants, is a piece of art, as well.

Nearly three hundred years ago, its spacious courtyard and fountain would have been filled with camels, sheep and other animals which had made the long trek with their owners.

Today, the courtyard has been transformed into an exhibition space with custom-made glass cases, lit from above by a network of lights which some daredevil has hung and a huge skylight which floods the room. Considering the historic use of the khan, it’s a perfect spot for an exhibition which is traveling around the world, making stops in different cities. In the magical set up of the khan, it’s easy to forget the delicate nature of the pieces and the trek they’ve made.

In fact, this past July, Marmarbashi and her exhibition team performed a dry run of the exhibit, flying a plane to the Damascus International Airport and moving mock pieces to the khan to see how the ceramics would be affected by travel.