I’m sure there’s probably a better title than “wow, oh wow” but that’s really what I felt this afternoon. A little overwhelmed, a little confused, a lot “wow”.
I toured Shangri La today as part of a museum studies class I’m taking (field trip!). Shangri La was the Honolulu home of American tobacco heiress Doris Duke and in 2002, nine years after her death, it was opened up for public tours. The place is incredible. Why? Because of the art. It is chock-full of art. Islamic art. From all over the world. From back to at least the 13th century. I think my jaw was permanently dropped for the entire tour. The place is amazing. Here’s a little bit of (Persian?) tile goodness:
So who was this woman who collected so much incredible art? I guess that’s what confuses me. She was insanely rich, for one – her father died when she was 12 and she basically inherited his entire fortune. She owned a plane, a Boeing 737, and who knows how many hosues. But it also sounds like she was incredibly curious about everything, very passionate, very driven, and most of all very private. She was the mastermind behind Shangri La, planning the architecture, art, everything. As part of the tour, the docent told us bits and pieces about her personality that he’d heard from people who knew her personally. It seems, though, that there is a lot missing from the story.
And what about the whole Orientalism thing? Is this just another (rich) Westerner who’s collecting pieces of the East because they represent something mysterious and romantic? I guess I find this troubling, in a way, and then there’s also the whole “Hawaiian paradise” aspect of it – she came here, fell in love with the place, bought a piece of it, dynamited the harbor to build up the land, kept mostly to herself, shaped it into her own private paradise. Nothing’s simple, I suppose, and even troubling aspects of things don’t seem like they should get in the way of appreciating the incredible, profound beauty that is also a part of this story.
On a related note, it sounds like they’re trying to adapt the tour so it’s focused more on the Islamic art side of things, not just the famous person side. And I did learn quite a bit about Islamic art on the tour. Success!
