During the Doors Open Toronto event a couple of weekends back I had visited the Aga Khan Museum and Ismaili Centre (see entry http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-en tries/londone7/28/1436213424/tpod.html)

However that day the museum was not open for free admission and only the architecture, park, and Ismaili Mosque were part of the Doors Open event. I planned on coming back as its close to my work.

Entrance is $20 or free on Wednesdays after 4pm. I planned a Wednesday when I drove so I would have my car to get there and home. Expecting it to be dead the parking lot however was still quite busy for a weekday afternoon.

The main floor is a giant L-shaped exhibition hall with various themes. It was reminiscent of the Islamic museums in Uzbekistan or Malaysia I'd visited.

There were Quranic texts in early Kufr scripts missing a lot of the accents from modern Arabic script. Also there were many illustrated books such as scientific or medical journals. There were also displays of ceramics and bronzeware.

As well there were many illustrated books highlighting Arabic poetry or historic journals. The exhibition was organized into regions such as Persia, Turkey, Egypt, and India.













The upper floor was the special exhibition hall with rotating exhibits. The present exhibition was about Islamic influences in European art. Islamic goods were seen as exotic and luxury commodities and they found their way into various works of European art.

There was a small exhibition room on the ground floor with ceramics in display cases. This is the only room free to the public to visit without a ticket. During the Doors Open event it was so packed I couldnt move around properly so today I could see the exhibits.

Finally back to the giftshop which was the only place I could see during the Doors Open. The museum is worth exploring whether for free on a Wednesday afternoon or any other time. I've had to travel all over the world to explore Islamic history and now there is an impressive museum right here in our city