In May of 2017, visual artist Kevork Mourad created a spectacular series of paintings directly on the walls of the Aga Khan Museum’s second-floor special exhibitions gallery. The painting is part of “Layers We Are,” a piece which also features the music of Damascus-born clarinettist Kinan Azmeh. It took several days to realize the collaboration. Azmeh recorded his improvisational music performance at the Museum on May 9, 2017. Between May 16 and May 18, Mourad responded to Azmeh’s recording with the gestural images that now fill the walls of the gallery space dedicated to the first movement of “Syrian Symphony.”

In May of 2017, the Aga Khan Museum welcomed musician-composer Malek Jandali to perform his adaptation of “Hurrian Hymn no. 6,” the oldest known written piece of music. The performance was recorded on a modern Disklavier, an acoustic piano outfitted with sensors that recognize the movements of the keys, hammers, and pedals during a performance. On playback, the keys and pedals of the Disklavier reproduce Jandali’s interpretation of the piece, retaining the tone and energy of his original performance — and demonstrating art’s ability not only to endure, but to also remain relevant century after century, generation after generation.

Look and listen as Amirali Alibhai, Head of Performing Arts and guest curator, offers insight into the inspiration behind our exhibition, “Syrian Symphony: New Compositions in Sight and Sound”.

Look and listen as the Aga Khan Museum’s Amirali Alibhai, Head of Performing Arts, offers an insider’s perspective on the music, paintings, and interactive elements of our “Syrian Symphony” exhibition.