Aga Khan's Islamic treasures go on show in Berlin

[March 16, 2010]  BERLIN (AP) -- More than 200 items from the Aga Khan's collection of Islamic treasures are going on show in Berlin -- an exhibition that spans a millennium and aims to illustrate the breadth of Islamic culture.

The show presented Tuesday ranges geographically from Spain to Indonesia and in content from a chestnut leaf inscribed with calligraphy to a Mongol nobleman's robe.

It opens to the public at Berlin's Martin-Gropius-Bau on Wednesday and runs through June 6.

Luis Monreal, the managing director of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, says organizers hope to "present to our Western public the pluralism of the Islamic cultures."

The Aga Khan is a billionaire philanthropist and spiritual leader of 20 million Shia Ismaili Muslims.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.