"We live in a world of half-completed things or damaged objects, but I had never articulated to myself that in fact there were times quite often that I preferred the objects that way."
Islamic art curator Navina Haidar extols the implications and aesthetics of the broken or incomplete.
Connections: Better Broken
Islamic art curator Navina Haidar extols the implications and aesthetics of the broken or incomplete.
Navina Najat Haidar
4 min. watch
Contributors
Navina Najat Haidar
Curator, Department of Islamic Art
Curator, Department of Islamic Art
More from The Met
Discover how Wilson’s illustrations for children’s literature emphasized the importance of representation.
Jeary Payne and Jason Reynolds
January 22
The author of After Sappho offers a queer feminist reading of Eve and the serpent, reimagining sin as likeness, desire, and bodies transcending gender and species.
Selby Wynn Schwartz
January 9
Author Leena Krohn reflects on Helene Schjerfbeck’s portrait of Sigrid Nyberg.
Leena Krohn
December 18, 2025
Art Mentioned
A slider containing 17 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Attributed to Sahib Ram
ca. 1800
Probably Sahri-Bahlol Workshop
ca. 5th century
Greek
2nd or 1st century BCE
Roman
161–169 CE
Attributed possibly to the Painter of Vatican 365
ca. 540–530 BCE
Roman
mid-2nd century CE
Roman
ca. 31 BCE–14 CE
Greek
5th century BCE or later
Anthony van Dyck
Sitter Anthony van Dyck
ca. 1640
late 9th–early 10th century
ca. 1545–55
ca. 1605
ca. 1750–75
Attributed to Hashim
ca. 1640
525–404 B.C.
ca. 1390–1336 B.C.
4th century B.C.