Ms. Emily Rafferty, [President, MMA]
Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, [Secretary-General, OIC]
Dr. Mutlaq Al-Qahtani, [Chef de Cabinet, UN General Assembly]
Ms. Galya Frayman Molinas, [President, Coca-Cola in Turkey and Central Asia]
Ms. Sheila Canby, [Curator in Charge of the Dept of Islamic Art]
Excellencies
Ladies and Gentlemen,
 
It is a great pleasure and honour for me to be amongst so important guests today.
 
This museum is one of the world’s great institutions, an oasis overflowing with art, creativity and knowledge.
 
The new galleries are a treasure within a treasure. My wife and I had the special privilege of visiting some months ago, and we were very impressed by what we saw.  It is good to be back.
 
Ladies and Gentlemen,
 
Ours is a world with ample opportunity for cross-cultural connection.  Trade, travel, the Internet, these can bring people together across distance and lines of identity that might otherwise divide us.
 
And yet, all too often, stereotypes and suspicion take hold; layers of misunderstanding stay in place.
 
These galleries are part of the antidote.
 
Above all, the displays celebrate beauty: art, craft and design in their full glory.
 
What stands out for me is the devotion that courses through every item on display.
 
No matter what the medium, tile or textile, manuscript or metal, the intricacy is remarkable.
 
The delicate carvings.  The tiny stitchings.  The infinitesimal brush strokes.
 
It all draws you in, closer and closer.  The detail almost defies belief.
 
One marvels at the artists’ patience and sense of purpose.
 
The people of these regions are justifiably proud of these achievements and [inaudible] civilization.
 
Indeed, these galleries tell an important, timely story.
 
They showcase the remarkable diversity of thought and tradition within Islam, a counterpoint to the unfortunate tendency to view the Islamic world as a monolith.
 
They also offer a window not only onto the past, but onto a world we all must understand today as part of our global mission of peaceful coexistence.
 
That is what the United Nations works for, day in and day out, by promoting and protecting human rights, by advancing our Alliance of Civilizations [initiative] by forging close contacts with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and inter-faith groups, and in so many [other] ways.
 
These galleries are a wonderful point of entry into the Muslim world, and I thank all involved in making this possible.
 
I am sure all who walk in will leave with appreciation and understanding of its contribution to our shared humanity.
 
At a time of transition across these very regions, these displays offer a powerful message, for inhabitant and visitor alike.
 
Thank you very much.