Freedom of London for Jewish art scholar who’s amassed world’s largest collection of Islamic art

A celebrated Jewish scholar who has built one of the world’s largest collections of Islamic art has been awarded the Freedom of the City of London.

Sir David Khalili, who turns 80 next month, has amassed more than 35,000 pieces across eight collections during 55 years of collecting. He has also meticulously researched and published over 100 publications , which were displayed together for the first time at tonight’s Guildhall ceremony.

“I spent 55 years of my life collecting art not from my own faith. I always considered what I was doing to be a contribution to my cousins because that is what Muslims are,” the Iran-born philanthropist told Jewish News.

He earlier received the honour from 696th Lord Mayor of London, Alastair King, hours before his year-long term ended at the nearly 800 year-old ceremony at Mansion House. He told guests at a reception afterwards: “This is not merely an honour, it is a profound privilege steeped in a rich heritage.”

Having previously been honoured as a Goodwill Ambassador by UNESCO, with a knighthood by the late Queen for promoting interfaith relations, and by Pope Benedict as having “in one person the great wisdom of a Chief Rabbi, a Cardinal and a Grand Mufti”, Sir David said: “This feels extraordinarily special. The City of London is not just the heart of this great city, it is the heartbeat of global trade and commerce where the spirit of entrepreneurship continues to flourish”.

The eight-part Khalili Collections span Japanese Art of the Meiji Period, Aramaic Documents, Spanish Damascene Metalwork, Swedish Textiles, Enamels of the World, Japanese Kimono, Islamic Art, and Hajj & The Arts of Pilgrimage. “Art and culture are the technology of connections. It opens other people’s hearts,” he said. He hailed the work of Lord Mayor King over the past year but reserved his greatest praise for his wife Marion “the greatest treasure of my life” and his sons Daniel, Benjamin and Raphael.

Among some of the guests at the celebration included Prof Colin Riordan, Secretary-General of the Association of Commonwealth Universities, with whom the philanthropist has worked to launch a project helping Commonwealth Small Island States combat climate change, and Nero Ughwujabo of the King’s Trust, a partner of the Khalili Foundation on encouraging cohesion.

King – who presented a letter to Khalili enabling him to claim a garment of his choice made from Lord Mayor’s tartan designed by his wife –
describes his final honoree as “one of world’s foremost champions of cultural philanthropy. He’s shown how culture can be bridge and not a barrier between people and cultures”.