Welcome to our cats-hibition!
From the sacred to the satirical, from domestic charm to cosmological meaning, this exhibition invites you to witness the development of one of history’s most enigmatic creatures into a subtle but enduring artistic motif. For millennia, cats have prowled the edges of human imagination – revered for their cleanliness, admired for their independence, beloved as companions, but also linked to bad luck or witchcraft.
Human's quiet obsession with cats hasn’t subsided even today. Today, cats are one of the most popular pets globally. While different sources provide different statistics, between 370 million and 600 million cats live as pets worldwide. In Germany, as of 2024, there are approximately 15.2 million pet cats, making it the country with the highest number of pet cats in the European Union. That is roughly 1 cat for every 5 people.
Cats have a long and complex history of interaction with humans. They were likely drawn to early agricultural settlements by the abundance of rodents, and in turn, humans valued them as agents of natural pest control. Over time, cats spread across continents via trade routes and empires, becoming both practical companions and cultural symbols. The feline’s role has ranged from hunter and guardian to mystical figure, and cats big and small continue to captivate human imagination – and the internet.
Bringing together a striking selection of objects from the collections of the Berlin State Museums, this online exhibition proposes a thematic, experimental lens of inquiry – the figure of the cat. Spanning centuries and regions, these feline-themed works explore how cats have been portrayed, protected, and mythologised across visual cultures. Whether curled in quiet repose or mid-leap in lively ornament, the objects presented here offer glimpses into the diverse artistic traditions celebrating the feline form. Though rarely foregrounded, feline presence surfaces in a range of visual and material forms across the museum collections. Tracing feline representation across time, geography, and belief provides an opportunity for examining changing human-animal relationships, social practices, and aesthetic conventions, as well as the role of visual culture in mediating those dynamics. As the hosting institution, a special focus lies on the collection of the Museum for Islamic Art.
meet the many lives of the cat!
This cats-hibition is presented in four galleries, which may be visited in no particular sequential order. While the exhibition’s focus lies on the collection of the Museum for Islamic Art, feline companions dwell across the Berlin State Museums, and further instanced of feline representation can be found in the fourth gallery, which will be opened soon. This is by no means an exhaustive overview.
Finally, the selected bibliography below provides opportunities for further reading and inquiry.
Now step in, and meet the many lives of the cat!
The Everyday Cat
Cats appear not only in paintings and poetry but also in the most tactile corners of daily life. This gallery presents two objects of everyday use – an earthenware bread stamp and a bronze incense burner – that were crafted with the cat in mind. Though humble in function, these objects remind us that felines have been quite literally pressed into the fabric of daily ritual for centuries: marked in dough, carried in scent.
To Be a Cat or Not to Be a Cat
To be or not to be a cat? This is the question posed by this trio of enigmatic objects, each bearing features that may suggest a feline form. Ears perked, tails curled, bodies poised in ambiguous silhouettes – these figures invite us to look closer and question our assumptions. Are we seeing cats because we want to – because the cat, with its rich symbolic history and quiet presence, is a creature we expect and are accustomed to find? Or are these forms deliberately elusive, hovering between representation and abstraction? To be – or not quite to be – a cat, then, is an invitation for reflection: in asking whether these are truly images of cats, we also explore how meaning takes shape through interpretation and memory.
The Painted Cat
Most domestic cat appearances in the Museum for Islamic Art’s collection occur in painted form. This section offers insights into diverse manifestations of the cat on paper and canvas.
Fur-ther Cats
Coming Soon! We are building this section for you with cats from other SMB collections!
An online exhibition by Franziska Kabelitz and Farwah Rizvi
All texts © Franziska Kabelitz
Cite this exhibition:
Kabelitz, Franziska, and Farwah Rizvi (2025). Cats in the Cabinet: Tracing Feline Presence in the Berlin State Museums. An online exhibition hosted by Islamic · Art, the educational online portal of the Museum for Islamic Art, Berlin State Museums.
Selected Bibliography / Further Reading
Folsach, Kjeld v. (2001). Art from the World of Islam in the David Collection. Copenhagen: The David Collection (C. L. David Foundation.
Gladiß, Almut v., ed. (2012). Glanz und Substanz. Metallarbeiten in der Sammlung des Museums für Islamische Kunst. Berlin: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Edition Minerva.
Goswamy, B.N. (2023). The Indian Cat. Stories, Paintings, Poetry and Proverbs. New Delhi: Aleph Book Company.
Canby, Sheila (1998). Princes, Poets and Paladins: Islamic and Indian Paintings from the Collection of Prince and Princess Sadruddin Aga Khan. London: British Museum Press.
Kühn, Miriam, and Martina Müller-Wiener, eds. (2022). Lustre Ceramics – Shimmering Secret. Petersberg: Michael Imhof Verlag.
Kühnel, Ernst, and Hermann Goetz (1924). Indische Buchmalereien aus dem Jahangir-Album der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin. Buchkunst des Orients, vol. 2. Berlin: Scarabaeus Verlag.
Rauch, Christoph (2022). “Im Wettkampf mit den Bibliotheken anderer Nationen”: Der Erwerb arabischer Handschriftensammlungen an der Königlichen Bibliothek zu Berlin zwischen 1850 und 1900.” In: Mangold-Will, Sabine, et al., eds. Sammler – Bibliothekare – Forscher: Zur Geschichte der orientalischen Sammlunge an der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin. Frankfurt am Main: Vittorio Klostermann.
Overton, Keelan, dir. and ed. (2025). The Emamzadeh Yahya at Varamin: An Online Exhibition of an Iranian Shrine. 33 Arches Productions. Host: Khamseen: Islamic Art History Online, https://khamseen-emamzadeh-yahya-varamin.hart.lsa.umich.edu.
Losty, J.P. et al. (2024). “The Indian Paintings from the Collection of Archibald Swinton, Formerly at Kimmerghame House, Berwickshire.” In: Weis, Friederike, ed. (2024). Eighteenth-Century Indian Muraqqaʿs, Audiences – Artists – Patrons and Collectors. Islamic Manuscripts and Books 23, Leiden: Brill, pp. 10-40. Open access: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004715837_003.
Sarre, Friedrich (1919). “Eine persische Kopie von Peruginos ‚Beweinung Christi‘.“ In: Kunst und Künstler, vol. 17, no. 7, pp. 257-264.
Schimmel, Annemarie (1989). Die orientalische Katze. Geschichten, Gedichte, Sprüche, Lieder und Weisheiten. Munich: Diederichs.
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz. Erwerbungsbücher des Museums für Islamische Kunst, vol. 1-7. Published as part of Heidelberg Accession Index (HAI). Open access: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68503.
Weis, Friederike, ed. (2024). Eighteenth-Century Indian Muraqqaʿs, Audiences – Artists – Patrons and Collectors. Islamic Manuscripts and Books 23, Leiden: Brill. Open access: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004715837_011.
Wright, Elaine, ed. (2008). Muraqqaʿ: Imperial Mughal Albums from the Chester Beatty Library Dublin. Alexandria, VA: Art Services International.