Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art Presents Exhibition on Textiles and Paintings From 17th-Century Iran in Celebration of Qatar-USA 2021 Year of Culture

Fashioning an Empire: Safavid Textiles from the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha” was on View Dec. 18 Through May 15, 2022

For the first time in the United States, visitors to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art enjoy an exceptional group of 17th-century textiles and full-length oil portraits from Safavid Iran (1501–1722), on loan from the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha. Complemented by some of the finest illustrated manuscript paintings from the collection of the National Museum of Asian Art, “Fashioning an Empire: Safavid Textiles from the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha” underscores the importance of silk in the social, economic and religious life of 17th-century Iran and its role in positioning the empire at the nexus of a vibrant global exchange.