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Islamic garden coming to University of Alberta Botanical Garden in 2018

The University of Alberta Botanical Garden will receive an Islamic garden set to bloom in 2018 as a gift.

The new Islamic garden will be the first in Western Canada supported by a more than $25 million donation from the the Aga Khan, who leads the second-largest Shia Islam branch. Known as the Aga Khan Garden, it will combine historic Islamic garden elements with the western Canadian landscape. The garden will reside within the University of Alberta Botanical Garden, which is about a 15-minute drive southwest of Edmonton.

“In a tradition dating back 1,200 years, this may be the coldest climate in which an Islamic garden has been built,” said international Aga Khan University President Firoz Rasul at the garden’s announcement ceremony on April 7.

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The garden will occupy 4.8 hectares that surround the University of Alberta Botanical Garden’s Calla Pond. Garden features will include forest paths, stepped terraces that change with the seasons, geometric water features. Plant-wise, the garden’s seed bank will host native Albertan plants that will interact with the surrounding wetland. Once completed, the number of annual visitors to the University of Alberta Botanic Garden is predicted to rise from 75,000 to 160,000.

Taking five years to design, the garden will show that reaching out across cultures, nations, and barriers is possible, Rasul said. Besides its botanical elements, the garden will also include information about Islamic tradition and art.

“It is too often we think of gardens as purely a place for our pleasure and for our repose,” Thomas Woltz, the garden’s architect, said. “Something we consume in relaxation only. This garden, however, is a landscape of ideas. It represents both art and head.”

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The new garden is a product of a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2006 and an honourary doctorate given to the Aga Khan in 2009. A new Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Rasul and the U of A’s President David Turpin at the garden’s announcement.

“We celebrate the important partnership between the University of Alberta, His Highness the Aga Khan, and the Aga Khan University — a partnership that recognizes the strength of diversity,” Turpin said. “The world need champions for openness, inclusion, and diversity.”

Adam Lachacz

The garden will serve as a permanent symbol of cooperation and cultural exchange, Turpin said. Alberta Premier Rachel Notley also attended the garden’s announcement.

“We recognize the deep connection and deep friendship between the Aga Khan University and the University of Alberta,” Notley said. “This relationship, just like the work of our government, is about making life better for people.”

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U of A students have done internships at Aga Khan University campuses and many complete their clinical electives at hospitals partnered with it as well. Aga Khan students have also completed graduate studies and post-graduate work at the U of A.

“We have a partner in a great university that has a global presence that is interested in the developing world,” Turpin said. “We have a lot of researchers that are very engaged in various problems and to have an institution that’s committed to those same things allows to share research.”

Adam Lachacz

Adam Lachacz was the Editor-in-Chief of The Gateway for 2020-21. Previously, he was the 2019-20 News Editor, 2018-19 Staff Reporter, and a senior volunteer contributor from 2016-18. He is a fifth-year student studying history and political science. Adam is addicted to the news, an aspiring sneakerhead, and loves a good cup of black coffee.

19 Comments

      1. Sarcasm. Unless suicide bombings, constant hatred for everyone and everything, strict rules that control every aspect of your life and beheadings are beautiful

        1. even though terrorism in 2017 is often associated with Islam, you should not use sarcasm to insult an entire religion. Not everyone who believes in Islam is associated with terrorism. There are extremists in every racial group, religion, ethnicity, nationality and gender. You should know this.

          1. I agree not all Muslims are violent. However the nonviolent Muslims are just as bad. They make far too many demands, have way too many children and will slowly outnumber us which is their goal when they get Into positions of power. Your stupid delusion that Christianity is just as evil as Islam is beyond stupid.

          2. You are the stupid one here Dan. Read the news and you will know that there are many Christian extremist groups in Eastern Europe who are doing unspeakable acts of violence and terror to people they don’t like. Your comment that “[Nonviolent Muslims] have way too many children and will slowly outnumber us…” highlights your intense Islamophobia. You are a racist piece of shit who does not read current events or stay up to date with the world. And I am the stupid one here because I conclude that “Christianity is just as evil as Islam”? Please crawl under a rock and never come out. You are a shame to the world.

          3. So instead of disproving me you just insult me? Classic liberal who knows he’s wrong. At least you weren’t desperate and said Christians are also evil. Oh wait… also these so called Christian groups aren’t killing people while screaming praise Jesus. Do you know what the word motive means ?

          4. I love how Dan assumes anyone who’s not racist is a liberal. Also love how pathetic of a sad old man Dan sounds for spewing bigotry on a UNIVERSITY MEDIA article about A GARDEN. Do gardens trigger you? Do you burst into years at the sight of flowers? Are bumblebees your worst enemy?

            Good on you, it must take real courage to act like a teeny weeny baby bitch boy in a comment section.

          5. Lol true that. Guess some people have emotional problems with gardens and political ideologies alike. And Dan, you are more pathetic than I thought.

          6. I was thinking the same about you. Hilarious and pathetic really you think that Christians in this day and age kill more in the name of Jesus than Muslims do in the name of Allah . Quite pathetic Indeed.

          7. What you just said is 100% false. You fucking idiot. You buffoon. You dumbass.

            No amount of TRUE evidence will change your fucked up little thoughts, but here it goes:

            Historians agree that in the past century, Muslim violence has claimed the lives of around 2 million people, mostly during the Iran-Iraq war and the war in Afghanistan, while violence by Christians claimed the lives of close to 100 million people.

            Most of these violent acts by Christians include World Wars, the Holocaust, and colonial wars in Southeast Asia and Africa.

            You, being a huge idiot, might say that this was done by Christians, but not in the name of Christianity. But in all of these conflicts the combatants were supremely religious and invoked religion into their military campaigns. Exactly the same as how today’s Islamic militants aren’t fighting for religion but are instead groups of people with a common religion.

            Your bigotry spits on the graves of the millions of people who died at the hands of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the genocide in Bosnia. They’re an insult to the people who perished in Rwanda’s genocide, which the Catholic churches had a role in.

            But you have no empathy. No capability of understanding historical hardships. You’re just some little shit sitting on a computer.

            I hope you either get rid of your Islamophobia soon. And I hope you don’t go to the UofA because the thought of sharing a campus with people like you sickens me.

            Sources:

            (https://www.alternet.org/belief/despite-wingnut-freakout-obama-right-christian-violence-just-bad-muslim-violence)

            (https://www.history.com/topics/bosnian-genocide)

            (https://instituteforgenocide.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/the-role-of-Serbian-Orthodox-Church-in-facilitating-genocidal-ethnic-cleansing-campaign..pdf)

            (https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3561365.stm
            )

          8. Wow you are delusional.. can’t even argue with your stupidity. You’ll see soon enough the horrors of Islam when they come home to roost

          9. Dan’s comments show Islamaphobia at its best. I actually feel really sorry for you Dan. For a person to be so narrow-minded and self-conceited, it’s actually kind of sad. You really shouldn’t call yourself a Christian, I think you cast shame upon your fellow worshippers and Christ.

          10. Ffs Muslims killed 3 million people alone in the 1971 Bangladesh genocide which is higher than What you say they killed in 100 years.

          11. The 3 million number is excessively inflated. It has been known for years it was in the 200,000-300,000 range.

            Not at all surprised you missed the entire point of both of those comments though. Have a nice life Dan.

          12. Please tell me you are not a U of A student. You are a shame to Canada. I really think you shouldn’t call yourself a Canadian or a U of A student. You are a shame to us all. Please take your Islamophobia, racism and various types of discrimination and stupidity/ignorance elsewhere.

          13. I don’t know whether to be honoured or creeped out that you changed your account name about me. I’ll go with creeped out and pity you.

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