Major art exhibition highlights in KL over the coming year

'Algerian Interior' (black chalk, with watercolour, bodycolour and coloured chalks) by Eugene Delacroix (1798–1863). It is one of the works in the upcoming 'Inspired By The East: How The Islamic World Influenced Western Art' exhibition at the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, starting in July. Photo: The Trustees of the British Museum

The Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur is set to make the headlines this year, with two eye-catching exhibitions that have already made their rounds in Australia and Britain.

These “homecoming” exhibitions – An Introduction To Islamic Calligraphy and Inspired By The East: How The Islamic World Influenced Western Art look set to give Malaysian art lovers a closer look at how calligraphy plays a vital role in the design of both religious and everyday arts and the art movement of Orientalism respectively.