US' First ever Quran exhibit begins in Washington DC

Forty-seven centuries old handwritten Qurans from Turkey will be presented Saturday at the first major Quran exhibition at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C.

The Qurans were brought from the more than 100-year-old Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts in Istanbul. The exhibition will also include 18 Qurans from the permanent collections of the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M.Sackler Gallery – both part of the Smithsonian.

Looking forward to "The Art of the Qur'an" opening 10/22 @FreerSackler. Learn more about the exhibition: https://t.co/iQzOoYWi5F pic.twitter.com/2ADhZLn9ep

— SmithsonianFolklife (@SmithsonianFolk) October 11, 2016

The manuscripts are among the most important ever produced from geography spanning Turkey to Afghanistan and covers almost 1,000 years of the history of Islamic art between the 8th and 17th centuries.

In addition to the exhibition, there will also be several seminars and panels on Islamic Art, curator tours, family-friendly hands-on art activities, storytelling performances and live demonstrations of calligraphy and illumination.

A Quran symposium will also take place Dec. 1 at the Turkish Embassy to the US.

“The Art of the Qur’an",a landmark exhibition from Turkey at @smithsonian @FreerSackler will open on Saturday,Oct. 22.Join us! #artofquran pic.twitter.com/ldrFdT5xyK

— Turkish Embassy DC (@TurkishEmbassy) October 14, 2016

Organized by the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry and the Smithsonian Museum, “The Art of the Qur’an: Treasures from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts” will be on view until 20 Feb.