Shangri La Museum

The Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, Culture & Design is housed in the former home of Doris Duke near Diamond Head in Honolulu, Hawaii. It is owned and operated as a public museum of the arts and cultures of the Islamic world by the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art (DDFIA), a branch of the Doris Duke Foundation. Guided tours depart from the Honolulu Museum of Art, which operates the tours in cooperation with DDFIA.

Shangri La was built between 1936 and 1938 after Duke's honeymoon, which took her through the Islamic world. Her travels in Egypt, India, and the Middle East inspired her to design a home that reflected the beauty, diversity, and craftsmanship of Islamic art and architecture. Her experiences in North Africa and South and Southeast Asia also shaped her vision of combining Islamic design with the natural landscape of Hawaiʻi.

For nearly 60 years, Duke commissioned and collected artworks for the space, eventually forming a collection of over 4,000 objects. The structure was designed by Marion Sims Wyeth, and Duke personally collaborated with artisans to incorporate Moroccan ceilings, Persian tilework, and Mughal-style gardens into the home's design. Over time, she expanded her collection to nearly 4,500 works, especially ceramics, wood, glass, and textiles from 1600 to 1940.