With Custom Tapestries and Jeweled Archways, MFAH Transforms Into Indian Palace for Glam Gala

Fay Zakhem, Rania Daniel, Donatella Benckenstein and Sima Ladjevardian (photo by Wilson Parish)

GALAS AT THE Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, are always a spectacle — but the 2023 Art of the Islamic Worlds Gala, which drew more than 300 guests to the Museum District campus, was especially dazzling.

Gala-goers began the evening in a red-carpet-lined tent before walking through a jeweled archway and into the MFAH's Cullinan Hall. Custom tapestries, painted to recall the City Palace of Jaipur, hung from the ceiling, while rose-gold linens and beautiful florals, courtesy of The Events Company, adorned the tables.

The night included a lively performance by FJK Dance and dinner — harissa- braised beef short rib, grilled sea bass slathered in saffron butter — catered by City Kitchen. Attendees also cast their vote for which art objects should be next acquired for the museum's permanent collection, and got a sneak peek of the new 6,000-square-foot Art of the Islamic Worlds gallery, named for Hossein Afshar. Exhibitions in this space will reflect the "breadth of historic Islamic lands, such as Morocco, Spain, Tunisia, Egypt, Türkiye, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India."