The British Museum has announced it is to open a major new gallery dedicated to the Islamic world in the wake of fundamentalists destroying historical sites across the Middle East . The museum revealed it will open the new Albukhary Foundation Gallery of the Islamic World at the end of October 2018 , which will bring together a collection showcasing ceramics , jewellery and paintings - some of which are not currently on display . The decision to open the new space , which will be created in two unused galleries on the first floor at the heart of the world-famous museum , comes at a particularly sensitive time for Islamic art and heritage . In recent years , it has come under threat from fundamentalists - with pictures of ISIS militants destroying some of the religion 's most important historical sites shocking the world . The British museum is to open a major new gallery dedicated to the Islamic world including works such as this copy of a painted jar in response to fundamentalists destroying historical sites across the Middle East . Disappeared : These pieces by artist Michael Rakowitz represent items lost when museums in the Middle East were ransacked . This one is called Headless Female Figure , and will be included in the new gallery . In February , thugs used power drills and sledgehammers to smash invaluable ancient items which were housed in a museum in Mosul , while this month they destroyed 3,000-year-old Nimrud and 2,000-year old Hatra - both Unesco world heritage sites . Two years earlier , extremists linked to Al Qaeda torched the £16-million Ahmed Baba Institute , home to some 20,000 ancient documents on culture , science and geography , in Timbuktu . The destruction - the most recent of which was described as a 'war crime ' by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon - has left experts and history lovers heartbroken . The project 's lead curator Venetia Porter told the Evening Standard : 'What ’ s been destroyed in Iraq belongs to all of us . ' Headless Female Figure Wearing Dress by Michael Rakowitz , left , and Who is this Hossein the world is crazy about ? by Iranian artist Hossein Zenderoudi , right . Another of Michael Rakowitz 's works - Cylinder Seal with Herd , The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist . History : Rakovitz 's works - like this Cylinder Seal with Lion - are displayed with information about the original . Ms Porter told the London newspaper the new , permanent space will provide a contrast to the modern Middle Eastern art collection the museum has been building up for a couple of years . The first of the two gallery spaces will look at the region from the beginning of Islam to about 1500 , highlighting the arts of the great medieval dynasties . The second will focus on objects representing the pinnacle of creativity under the three major dynasties that dominated the Islamic world from the 16th century : the Ottomans , Safavids and Mughals . Contrast : The new gallery will complement the collection of modern Middle Eastern artwork , like Manal Dowayan 's I am a Saudi Citizen , which the British Museum has been gathering for a number of years . A portrait of Abdo Ali Sheikh from 2013 is among the works that will be displayed in the new Albukhary Foundation Gallery . Both promise to 'radically ' redisplay the museum 's important collections , using dark areas to show off light-sensitive materials which can currently not be displayed . But the gallery will also look at the importance of the role of non-Muslim communities on impacting history . 'This new gallery we hope will enable people to look at the cultures of Islam from Spain to China in a deep and different way , ' said Ms Porter . Destruction : The announcement came as valuable artifacts in the Middle East are destroyed . Gone : This man helped destroy Nineveh , the capital of Assyria in its final years of greatness . New : The Albukhary Foundation Gallery of the Islamic World will open in the heart of the British Museum ( pictured ) at the end of October 2018 - bringing back into use to old spaces on the first floor . When the space opens , it will be the first new permanent gallery created in almost a decade - thanks to a 'generous ' donation from the Malaysia-based Albukhary Foundation . Neil MacGregor , director of the British Museum , said : 'This generous gift from The Albukhary Foundation makes it possible for us to completely redisplay one of the world 's most important Islamic collections . 'These new galleries will allow us to present our collection in the context of world cultures exploring the history , complexity and diversity of Islamic cultures across the world from Sub Saharan Africa to Malaysia and Indonesia . '
New permanent exhibition will open in the heart of the museum in 2018 . The new permanent exhibition, which is expected to be opened by September 2018, will focus on the history and culture of the region from prehistoric times until today. Generous ' donation from Malaysian fund enabled museum to create space . Comes as artifacts in the Middle East come under threat from extremists .