Jake Benson
“The absolute highlight of my time at the Museum was necessarily examining so many pieces in person, including under a microscope. I am eternally grateful to have been given access to your facilities and to have worked with your staff to both closely inspect and learn more about the provenance, material composition, and physical construction of the objects in your Collection, observing many features that are not easily seen by the naked eye.”
AKM Exhibitions Visited: Temporary exhibitions Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time: Art, Culture, and Exchange across Medieval Saharan Africa, Ekow Nimako’s Building Black: Civilizations, and Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From, as well as the Aga Khan Museum’s permanent Collection
Focus of Research: The focus of Jake’s research was those items in the Museum’s Collection that featured marbled paper which was traditionally made with floating colours and was historically practised in the Islamic world. Jake was fascinated by the range of items held in the Museum’s Collection that featured marbled or decorated papers. He spent much of his time in the galleries examining various pieces of art that were of interest to him. In addition, he deepened his knowledge by learning from the curators and Collection experts, which furthered his understanding of the items in his area of research.