Durham County Library Hosts Art with the Experts: Doris Duke’s Shangri-La

Shangri La evokes peaceful images of an earthly paradise, a pristine place that merges fantasy with reality. Part of that fiction will be discussed as it pertained to reality of one of the Duke family's most illustrious members.

Durham County Library will host the Nasher Museum of Art’s Juline Chevalier and Katie Adkins for a presentation and slide lecture on the museum’s exhibit Shangri La: Architecture, Landscape, and Islamic Art, which highlights the collection of American heiress and philanthropist Doris Duke. The program will take place at 7 p.m. on Monday, September 23, at the Main Library, 300 N. Roxboro St.

Internationally known for her wealth and style, Duke amassed one of the nation’s most important private collections of Islamic art over a period of more than 50 years, beginning in 1935 at Shangri La, her private residence outside Honolulu. Melding modern architecture, tropical landscapes and art collected throughout the Islamic world, “Shangri La” provides an opportunity for deeper exchange and understanding at a time of mistrust between the United States and many Muslim cultures. The exhibit will run at the Nasher until December 29, 2013.

Juline Chevalier is the Curator of Education and Katie Adkins is the Assistant Curator of Exhibitions at Duke University’s Nasher Museum of Art. This is the first time works from Duke’s Islamic art collection have traveled to North Carolina.

This program is sponsored by Durham Library Foundation. For more information, contact Joanne Abel at 919-560-0268 or visit their website.

Durham County Library encourages Discovery, connects the Community and leads in Literacy. As a department of Durham County Government, the library furthers Goal 1 of the county’s Strategic Plan by enhancing cultural, educational and creative opportunities.

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