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The Center's computerized data bank will be a unique source of information about objects and archival materials in the Quadrangle and other Smithsonian collections, and eventually about other collections in the United States and around the world. The data bank will make possible information storage, retrieval and transfer of textual, musical, pictorial and motion picture data on natural and cultural conservation issues and methodologies, which will be available to scholarly researchers, popular publishers, students, and, most especially, to the people involved themselves as keepers of their traditions and environments.

While the primary purpose of the International Center will be to advance Quadrangle objectives in coordination with other elements, the Center also, on occasion, will serve as a meeting place for international groups visiting Washington, D.C. under Department of State or similar auspices. Such meetings will be arranged not simply as an accommodation, but more importantly, as a means of involving important and influential persons in the activities of the Quadrangle.

The International Center will be life-centered in its concerns, Institution-wide in its perspective, worldwide in its focus, and research- and service-oriented in its commitment. The content of its various projects will depend to a large extent on the vision and talent of the researchers, topics selected, opportunities presented, and funding available.

Center for Islamic Arts and Culture

The Center for Islamic Arts and Culture will be located within the International Center and will be the responsibility of the director of the International Center. The Center for Islamic Arts and Culture will seek outstanding authorities in the United States and abroad to come and pursue their research in conjunction with Smithsonian historians, scientists, and curators, working - whenever it is appropriate - with Smithsonian collections and the International Center data bank. The goal of the Center for Islamic Arts and Culture will be fundamental research in the Islamic field as well as the development of publications, lectures, seminars, exhibitions and performances concerning the cultures of the Arab and Islamic world.