Islamic Art in Hawaii - Client: Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art Culture and Design, Honolulu (2025)

We undertook a comprehensive assessment of the potential of Shangri La to engage with diverse audiences, both physically and digitally, using the museum building and its collection of art from the Islamic world to its fullest advantage, in line with the Doris Duke Foundation’s aim to become a centre for global transformation and an important cultural hub. We developed narratives to make the collection more meaningful to audiences with little knowledge of the Islamic world and identified relevant connections to Hawaiian culture.

We also developed strategic guidelines for: the management of the collection and the archive, staffing, conservation and storage, and using the building and collection as educational resources.

Shangri La was built in the 1930s for Doris Duke, a wealthy heiress who was inspired by her travels to the east, and combines spaces inspired by the architecture of the Islamic world, historic architectural elements and objects, and architectural commissions including Persian tile-work, Moroccan ceilings, and Indian marble-work.

We developed museum narratives using the Shangri La collection to convey messages about personal transformation, and to create links between the culture of the Islamic world, local Hawaiian culture, and the museum’s aspiration to become a centre for global transformation.