Nur: Light in Art and Science

Last Friday I took my DTS Creative Writing class to the DallasMuseum of Art, and as part of our visit, the museum gave attendeescomplimentary tickets to see “Nur: Light in Art and Science from the IslamicWorld.” “Nur” derives its title from the Arabic word for "light."In both the physical and metaphysical sense the exhibition highlightsinnovations in art and science.

Just because it has the word “Islamic” in its subtitle,don’t assume it’s a religious show. The definition of “Islamic World” here is more geographic than strictly religious. Its scope is broad enough to include reference to Jesus’s dual nature and hisself-description as “the Light of the World,” along with a Hanukkah lamp ortwo. “Nur” also includes many non-religious pieces such a bowls andsundials. 

The DMA is the only venue outside of Europe to feature thisexhibition, which spans more than ten centuries. It features 150 rarely seenobjects, many of them with Spirograph-like images collected from across the world. They include exquisite instruments fortelling time in the moonlight and rare manuscripts.

Our group’s time at the museum also included a look at the DMA’sMondrian collection, which is vast enough to show the artist’s movement fromrepresentational to abstract art over a period of about fifty years. Through both the “Nur” exhibition and theMondrian work, I became aware in a new way of the fact that mathematics and geometrical images expresssomething about the constant nature (2+2 always = 4) of our never-ending God, in whom there is no shifting shadow.