Glenn McArthur’s interest in muqarnas was first sparked on a post-college European trip where he visited Spain’s Alhambra Palace. When he returned decades later, his curiosity was rekindled when he came upon a similar detail on a historic gate. This started a line of research and photography to document these beautiful examples of Islamic architecture — a journey that has taken him to over nine countries and more than 300 sites and one that is slated to continue into the winter and spring of 2025 and beyond. Glenn McArthur is known for his work as a designer, a writer of several award-winning books on architecture and design, and an art educator at OCAD University.

Michael Chagnon is a museum curator specializing in painting and the arts of the book from the early modern Persianate sphere. He was appointed Curator at the Aga Khan Museum in May 2019, where he has curated numerous acclaimed exhibitions, including Rumi: A Visual Journey through the Life and Legacy of a Sufi Poet (2023), Hakan Topal: The Golden Cage (2022), Remastered (2020-21), and Ekow Nimako / Building Black: Civilizations (2019-20). Dr. Chagnon has previously held curatorial posts at the Brooklyn Museum, LACMA, and Japan Society, and served in curatorial capacities for exhibitions at New-York Historical Society and Asia Society Museum.