Chester Beatty Library
Dublin
The Chester Beatty Library holds some of the world’s finest manuscripts, prints, icons, miniature paintings and early printed books from Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. The collection was bequeathed, for the benefit of the public, by Sir Alfred Chester Beatty in 1968. The Library became a public charitable trust in 1969 and is today housed in a renovated eighteenth century building within Dublin Castle. Educational partnerships are at the heart of learning at the Library. In 2000-1 the Chester Beatty Library linked up with the Dublin Civic Trust to participate in the ‘I have a Museum Project’. This initiative fostered long-term commitments between Irish cultural institutions and schools. Recognising that the duration of a typical school tour is usually 45 minutes, the library devised an educational event in collaboration with Dublin’s Muslim National School that would have a more sustained lifespan. Using the Library’s collections as inspiration, the children designed and made books based on traditional Islamic book making. The life of the famous Islamic traveller Ibn Battutah was used as a starting point to explore Islamic culture and the Library’s collection. The education team worked closely with teachers to ensure that the project was specific to the needs of the class. Following eight months of work between library and school, an exhibition highlighted the project’s resounding success.
An on-going project, Stories from the Silk Road, brings to life the adventures of such famous figures as Alexander the Great and Marco Polo and literary classics such as The Arabian Nights. This is achieved by story-telling sessions in the library and by artists working with schools across Dublin. Such is the demand that the Library has set-up the Silk Worm Club for children at weekends.
The Chester Beatty Library is a dynamic place to learn about world cultures. Workshops in calligraphy, henna handpainting, rangoli (pictures of coloured sand) and origami, Islamic art and design complement talks and study days, all free of charge. This inspiring environment was central to the library’s becoming European Museum of the Year in 2002. AK
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