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Introduction

A number of AKDN programmes are resident in the UK; others have been assisted by collaborations with universities and institutions in the country. The Aga Khan Foundation office, set up in 1973, has been at the centre of these linkages. In addition to fruitful partnerships with the Department for International Development (DFID), AKF and other AKDN agencies - particularly the Aga Khan University - have enjoyed institutional collaborations with a number of universities, including the London Institute of Education, the University of Oxford, the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University.

The Aga Khan University’s Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC), set up in London in 2002, aims to strengthen research and teaching on the heritage of Muslim societies. The Institute of Ismaili Studies, affiliated with the AKDN, was established in London in 1977 to promote scholarship on historical and contemporary Muslim cultures and societies.

A number of cultural events have been staged at UK venues, including Spirit & Life, an exhibition of rare Islamic art and manuscripts from the Aga Khan Museum collections, which ran at the Ismaili Centre, South Kensington, London. The Aga Khan Trust for Culture also brought 40 leading musicians and dancers from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to perform at the English National Opera in London. Future collaborations will include concerts at the Barbican and other cultural venues in the UK.