British Universities Film & Video Council

moving image and sound, knowledge and access

Heritage of Islam - Where Worlds Meet

Series

Series Name
London Line

Issue

Long Special
3
Filmed
1977
Length of issue (in feet)
1025
Stories in this Issue:
  1. 1Heritage of Islam - Where Worlds Meet

Story

Story No. within this Issue
1 / 1
Summary
COI synopsis: Islam - the Muslim world, which extends from the Middle East deep into Africa and as far east as Indonesia. Civilisation owes much to Islam: Islamic scholars built the world’s first observatory, at Samarkand in 1420; Islam was also the probable originator of the concept of the university; and at the end of the 19th century, Islamic themes inspired British architects, potters and artists to produce some magnificent examples of decorative art. Today’s celebrated racehorses are the product of crossing English bloodstock with three famous Arab stallions in the 17th and 18th centuries. Britain’s links with Islam were forged almost 200 years ago in the reign of George III, and in London - a city where many different cultures mingle - was staged the World of Islam Festival, in 1976. Opened by Her Majesty the Queen, this four-month festival was the most comprehensive study of Muslim civilisation ever presented, with exhibitions of the arts, sciences and academic life of Islam. This programme visits some of the festival exhibitions; a sale of Islamic works of art at Sothebys; a famous Arabian stud farm; and the mosque now being built in the heart of London, the largest outside the Islamic world. It shows glimpses of what some celebrated British travellers of the past would have seen - such as Sir Richard Burton on his pilgrimage in 1853 to Mecca, the heart of Islam.
Researcher Comments
Makes extensive use of library footage from Richard Price Associates, the BBC, ITN and Visnews. English and Arabic versions were made
Keywords
Arts and crafts; Religion and belief; Design
Written sources
COI Catalogue Cards [BFI National Archive]
COI Microfilm Roll 43 [BFI National Archive]   Used for synopsis
Credits:
Sponsor
Central Office of Information (COI)
Cutter
Peter Greenaway
Editor
Peter Greenaway

This series is held by:

Film Archive

Name
British Film Institute (BFI)
Email
For BFI National Archive enquiries:
nonfictioncurators@bfi.org.uk
For commercial/footage reuse enquiries:
footage.films@bfi.org.uk
Web
http://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web
Phone
020 7255 1444
Fax
020 7580 7503
Address
21 Stephen Street
London W1T 1LN
Notes
The BFI National Archive also preserves the original nitrate film copies of British Movietone News, British Paramount News, Empire News Bulletin, Gaumont British News, Gaumont Graphic, Gaumont Sound News and Universal News (the World War II years are covered by the Imperial War Museum).
Series held
View all series held by British Film Institute (BFI)

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