Washington ? “Art” is probably not the first word most Americans think of when they hear the word “Islam,” but an exhibit at the National Gallery of Art in Washington is trying to make that happen.

“Now, more than ever, we need to work to build bridges of understanding between our societies and cultures,” said Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi Arabia ambassador to the United States and sponsor of the exhibit. “This important collection of Islamic art provides a historical perspective and cultural context for one of the world’s greatest religions.”

Titled “Palace and Mosque: Islamic Art from the Victoria and Albert Museum,” the Islamic art exhibition will be on display until Feb. 6.

The exhibit starts with the emergence of Islamic art as a style and ends with Islamic art influencing and being influenced by other cultures, said Earl A. Powell, director of the gallery.

The “Palace” represents the secular part of Islamic art, while the “Mosque” represents the religious part. In religious contexts, for example, neither human nor animal figures appear while those images were common in secular contexts.

The written word is an important part of Arabic art, and Arabic calligraphy appears on the walls of palaces and mosques.

Half of the exhibit is devoted to cultural exchange between Islamic art and other cultures, ranging from churches to Chinese ceramics.

One surprising aspect of the exhibit is the contrast between today’s international politics and Islamic art’s history. For example, art by Christians and Jews was once so well integrated in the Islamic culture that their works became almost indistinguishable from the Islamic art.