Largest Donation in Museum History « Simerg – Insights from Around the World

Note: With the exception of the featured photograph shown at the top of this post which also appears in full within the body of the post, the remaining photographs in this piece are not part of the official news release issued by the Aga Khan Museum — Ed.

SEPTEMBER 21, 2023: AGA KHAN MUSEUM PRESS RELEASE

“In recognition of their longstanding generosity and support, the Aga Khan Museum’s Auditorium will be renamed the Nanji Family Foundation Auditorium” — Press Release, Aga Khan Museum

Aga Khan Museum Auditorium — A view of the ceiling of the Aga Khan Museum’s Auditorium which is being renamed the Nanji Family Foundation Auditorium following the family’s magnificent multi-million dollar gift to the Aga Khan Museum. Photograph: Cramenwalker/Wikipedia/Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).

TORONTO, CANADA – September 21, 2023 – The Gulshan and Pyarali Gulamali Nanji Family Foundation has recently gifted a transformative multi-million-dollar donation to the Aga Khan Museum that will expand the Museum’s reach and impact millions of people around the globe, deepening their understanding of Muslim arts and cultures and their connection with the world. The generous donation will enable the Museum to enhance onsite and digital learning around the Museum’s renowned Permanent Collection and engender significant, unique Performing Arts programs which provide opportunities for communities to connect through collaboration and performance.

The Nanji Family Foundation is a philanthropic organization dedicated to supporting a wide range of charitable initiatives, impacting the lives of thousands through its contributions to a wide range of Canadian and international initiatives and healthcare facilities, including the Sunnybrook Foundation, North York General Hospital, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

“Our support for the Aga Khan Museum stems from our passion and appreciation for the arts and the ways in which they unify us,” says Azim Nanji, Gulshan and Pyarali Nanji’s son. “The Museum has established its place within the shared fabric of Canadian society, encouraging mutual understanding and appreciation of one another. We hope this contribution will encourage others to support their community, country, and the world.”

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Nanji Family Foundation makes donation to Aga Khan Museum — Nanji Family members with Prince Amyn Aga Khan and leaders of the Ismaili community and the Aga Khan Museum. From left to right: Mr. Azim Nanji, Mr. Pyarali G. Nanji, Prince Amyn Aga Khan (Board Chairman, Aga Khan Museum), Dr. Ulrike Al-Khamis (CEO, Aga Khan Museum), Mrs. Gulshan Nanji, Ms. Tazmin Nanji-Amlani, Mr. Ameerally Kassim-Lakha (President, Aga Khan Ismaili Council for Canada), Mr. Moyez Jadavji (COO, Aga Khan Museum). Photograph: Akber Dewji/Aga Khan Museum.

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A view of the Auditorium of the Aga Khan Museum. — A view of the Aga Khan Museum’s Auditorium which has been renamed as the Nanji Family Foundation Auditorium in recognition of the Foundation’s longstanding generosity and support. Photograph: The Aga Khan Museum.

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Plaque on a wall at the Aga Khan Museum acknowledging the generous support of the Nanji Family Foundation. Photograph: Aga Khan Museum. — *Plaque on wall at the Aga Khan Museum acknowledging the generous support of the Nanji Family Foundation. Photograph: Aga Khan Museum.*

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Aga Khan Museum Light Show — *A spectacular light show projected on the front wall of the Aga Khan Museum in the middle of a Toronto winter, December 27-30, 2018. Photograph: Malik Merchant/Simerg.*

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Nanji Family Auditorium at the Aga Khan Museum Toronto. — *A view of the beautiful stairwell leading to the upper section of Aga Khan Museum’s Auditorium, now known as the Nanji Family Foundation Auditorium. Photograph: Malik Merchant/Simerg.*

“We are truly humbled and awed by the transformational donation from the Gulshan & Pyarali G. Nanji Family Foundation,” says Dr. Ulrike Al-Khamis, Director and CEO of the Aga Khan Museum. “This phenomenal gift will enable us to drive our mandate of building intercultural bridges through the arts while growing our Museum and its impact with the aim of contributing to more inclusive and peaceful communities.” The generous donation will be the largest granted by the Nanji Family Foundation to an arts organization. In recognition of their longstanding generosity and support, the Museum’s Auditorium will be renamed the Nanji Family Foundation Auditorium.

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FLASHBACK: THE AGA KHAN MUSEUM’S OPENING DAY, SEPTEMEBER 12, 2014

I believe strongly that art and culture can have a profound impact in healing misunderstanding and in fostering trust even across great divides. This is the extraordinary purpose, the special mandate, to which this Museum is dedicated. In its role to reveal and to stimulate dialogue between different cultures, the Aga Khan Museum will continue a long history of cultural sharing between Islam and the West — Prince Amyn Aga Khan, speaking at the opening ceremony of the Aga Khan Museum, September 12, 2014.