Rumi Beyond Rumi

Migration, displacement and divine love.

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Rumi, the 13th-century Sufi mystic and poet adored by celebrities, wellness gurus and spiritual seekers, is grounded historically by a Toronto exhibition that intertwines artifacts, archival texts and work by three contemporary artists. The show, at the Aga Khan Museum, marks the 750th anniversary of Rumi’s death in 1273 by moving beyond the discourse of love commonly associated with him and popularized by recent translations, such as those by American poet Coleman Barks.

Visitors to Rumi: A visual journey through the life and legacy of a Sufi mystic are greeted with quotations that universalize love. “The religion of Love is distinct from all religions,” reads one.  Another says: “The light is not different; what’s different is the lamp … Muslim, Zoroastrian, Jew … The difference between them is just perspective.” While these words are welcoming, the exhibition, on view until Oct. 1, adds significant nuances to conventional understandings of Rumi, which have been criticized for erasing the poet’s culture and religion.

The exhibition, curated by Michael Chagnon, decentres mainstream associations between Rumi and love by beginning with the biographical. Organized in three thematic sections – the historical, the visual and translations – it tells the story of Rumi’s birth in what is now Afghanistan, close to the border with Tajikistan. During his life, he was known as Jalal al-Din Muhammad Balkhi. The final part of his name refers to his ancestral home, Balkh, in present-day Afghanistan. When he was young, Rumi was constantly on the move with his family due to political upheavals. Some may be surprised to learn that the name “Rumi” refers to lands of Rome, particularly former territories of the Eastern Roman Empire in present-day Turkey, where Rumi spent much time. The show creates a keen sense of his migrations, his mystical education and the reach of his teachings. 

Artifacts on display include a 13th-century turquoise vessel from Nishapur, a city in northeastern Iran, where Rumi lived briefly. It is placed near an intricate kashkul or beggar’s bowl. Kashkuls are often boat-shaped, symbolizing the journey of the soul, and were carried by mystics to accept food and gifts. Some kashkuls, like the glossy black one on display, were crafted from the shells of palm nuts dropped by coco-de-mer trees on the Seychelles, an archipelago off East Africa. Their shells wash up on Iranian beaches. 

Resonances of migration echo through works by two contemporary artists influenced by Rumi, whether directly or indirectly. Afghan Canadian artist Hangama Amiri uses textiles to discuss displacement and home. Her wall hangings evoke the quotidian realities of being uprooted: one depicts a manicured hand reaching for one suitcase among many. The contrast between Amiri’s textured layers and the flattened imagery brings a playful tension to weighty themes.

Turkish Canadian artist Erdem Taşdelen’s The Dream That Must Be Interpreted takes spiritual revelations as cues for an audio installation that unfolds over 24 minutes. Groups of found and crafted objects displayed on platforms make concrete the stories of four characters awakening from transformative dreams. A dark blue star map placed alongside a metronome and pajamas draws out the ethereal ambience of contemporary spiritual practices with a calming intimacy.

Iranian Canadian Simin Keramati, the third contemporary artist, contributes The Elephant in the Dark. An interactive touch-based installation, it restages Rumi’s story about people who have never seen an elephant feeling different parts of the animal and describing their experiences. For Rumi, the story is a metaphor for how humans make sense of the vastness of the divine through faceted and infinite ways of sensing.  

The show’s final section invites people to engage with translations by flipping pages on screens that juxtapose the archival and the contemporary. Celebrity translations and appropriations of Rumi are also given space, although the humility and spirituality of Rumi’s journey is centred from beginning to end. 

Rumi is part of my cultural heritage, so I was especially delighted by the show’s emphasis on storytelling and music, including a reed flute made in 2014 by Hanefi Kirgiz. Known as a nay, it may be the type of instrument Rumi used to compose the verses of his Masnavi, an influential Sufi poem. Rumi: A visual journey through the life and legacy of a Sufi mystic expanded my understanding of Rumi’s life, leaving me with a renewed appreciation for his interdisciplinary influences and legacies, and for the many gradations of love. ■

Rumi: A visual journey through the life and legacy of a Sufi mystic at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto from May 13 to Oct. 1, 2023.

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