Massumeh Farhad points to one of the Qurans in the exhibition. As curator, she flipped through all of the books on display. "Every page is absolutely breathtaking," she says.
Raquel Zaldivar/NPR
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The Smithsonian show isn't about the words of the Quran so much as the people who laboriously copied it, letter by letter. When they made a mistake, they fixed it with flourish — and sometimes gold.
Massumeh Farhad points to one of the Qurans in the exhibition. As curator, she flipped through all of the books on display. "Every page is absolutely breathtaking," she says.
Raquel Zaldivar/NPR
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American artist Jeff Koons, left, American ambassador Jane Dorothy Hartley and Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo unveil illustrations of Bouquet of Tulips 2016, a 34-foot statue Koons is presenting to the city of Paris and the people of France as a symbol of friendship.
Michel Euler/AP
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