History

Khamsa Art is based on the simple yet profound notion that we all have a story to tell. Art provides a way to narrate life through imagery, and allows viewers to both reconnect with familiar ideas and discover new ones.

We chose the word Khamsa for its fascinating and complex history. In Arabic, it literally translates to the number five. In the 1590s, Mughal King Akbar ordered an illuminated manuscript of the five poems by the twelfth century Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi, each describing ideals of compassion, freedom, justice, love, and hatred of oppression.

Titled Khamsa-e-Nizami (Khamsa of Nizami), the stories include Makhaz-ul-Asrar (The Depository of Secrets), Layla Majnun (The Love Story of Layla and Majnun), Khusrow-o-Shirin (Khusrow and Shirin), Haft Paikar (The Seven Beauties), and Iskandernama (The Book of Alexander).

These stories offer universally relatable morals, demonstrating the ways art and storytelling can connect people across generations and boundaries. Our mission at Khamsa Art is to empower art buyers to discover deeply meaningful, beautiful, and treasured art.