The Aga Khan Museum, dedicated to showcasing the artistic, intellectual and scientific contributions of the Muslim community to the world, opens in Toronto Sept. 18. Displaying more than 1,000 artifacts and objects, including portraits, textiles, miniatures, manuscripts, ceramics, tiles and more, the 81-metre-long, 54-metre-wide building is located at 77 Wynford Dr.

“The aim of the Aga Khan Museum will be to offer unique insights and new perspectives into Islamic civilizations and the cultural threads that weave through history binding us all together,” says His Highness the Aga Khan. “My hope is that the Museum will also be a centre of education and of learning, and that it will act as a catalyst for mutual understanding and tolerance.”

The museum, designed by architect Fumihiko Maki, shares a 17-acre site with Toronto’s Ismaili Centre. The facility features Brazilian granite exterior walls, an open-roofed courtyard, two exhibition galleries, areas for art conservation and storage, a theatre with seating for 350 people and two classrooms.

“The Aga Khan Museum has an international outlook,” says Henry Kim, director of the museum. “Home to a collection of astonishingly beautiful works of art, it will showcase the artistic creativity and achievements of Muslim civilizations from Spain to China. I think local and international visitors will be greatly surprised when they discover just how much the arts of Muslim civilizations are a part of our shared global cultural heritage.”

Several museums, including the Musée du Louvre in Paris, have hosted temporary exhibitions of major works of art from the Aga Khan Museum Collection in the past.