Exploring the Islamic Arts Biennale 2025: Everything you need to know about the Jeddah show

Khaleej Times

14-02-2025

The scene in Jeddah is both surreal and sacred. Under the shade of the Western Hajj Terminal's canopies at King Abdulaziz International Airport, visitors are making a beeline towards the dimly-lit, custom-built galleries, which contain some of the world's most coveted and rarely-seen objects that will blow the mind of any cultural crusader. We are at the second edition of the Islamic Arts Biennale, called And All That Is In Between, which opened on January 25 and will remain on display for the public in Jeddah until May 25. The title is derived from the Quran and its significance can be judged by the fact that the phrase recurs 20 times throughout the text.
A veritable gateway to this biennale, the first section is titled AlBidayah, and it embodies the essence of a house of God and the word of the Almighty. The space invites us to transcend the material world for a moment and contemplate on the importance of religion, rituals, piety and spirituality while encouraging us to engage with the cultural productions through our hearts, minds and hands.
One of the essential highlights of the biennale can be found in AlBidayah. Against a white backdrop, the kiswah of the Ka'bah hangs suspended from the ceiling as the sound of Quranic verses gently drifts through the air. Visually breathtaking, the kiswah (an Arabic term for 'dress or drape') is a sight typically reserved for Muslim pilgrims who travel to Mecca during Hajj or the voluntary Umrah but here, people from all faiths are welcome to admire the sacred drapery used for centuries to adorn Islam's holiest shrine. And as for the kiswah itself — well, it appears majestic, divine and suddenly so accessible. According to one historic account, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)furnished the cuboid-shaped Ka'bah in cloth from Yemen but over the ages, the materials of the kiswah changed from reed mats and leather to silk and cotton.
During an insightful walkthrough, the Islamic and Asian art scholar Dr Julian Raby, who serves as one of the artistic directors of the Islamic Arts Biennale alongwith Dr Amin Jaffer and Dr Abdul Rahman Azzam, explains the special significance of AlBidayah's design choices. 'What we have here is a delicate balance between the black of the kiswah and the white translucency of the walls. Pilgrims wear a white ihram (robe) during the tawaf (circumambulation) around the Ka'bah, a colour that epitomises purity and innocence while black is not just a design aspect, it actually reflects the contemplative power of God — as underlined in the phrase, 'Zul-Jalaali-wal-Ikram' which means 'Lord of Majesty and Bounty,'' says Dr Raby, a former lecturer in Islamic art and architecture at the University of Oxford and former director of the National Museum of Asian Art at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC.
The other prominent artefacts in the AlBidayah galleries are a madraj or staircase from Chepauk in India, a monumental copy of Quran and the Ka'bah's key (dated between 1240s and 1340s CE and beautifully inscribed with Quranic verses) that has belonged to the Banu Shaibah family for generations ever since the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) himself pledged them this privilege.
The madraj was commissioned by Nawab Azam Jah Bahadur Wallajah IV from southern India and features Baroque-inspired motifs. It was packed and transported by the East India Company on a ship bound for Jeddah. Along with precious historical treasures, the AlBidayah segment also includes displays of contemporary expressions by artists like Nour Jaouda, Hayat Osamah, Saeed Gebaan, and Ahmed Mater who are all Arabic artists, a few of them based in Saudi Arabia. They are complemented by Western names such as Abdelkader Benchamma, Arcangelo Sassolino, and Asif Khan. The Libyan artist Nour Jaouda's work is centred around hand-dyed textiles, fibre, and found material. Oriented towards the Makkah-al-Mukarramah, her textile installation Before the Last Sky encapsulates the Islamic ritual of daily prayers. It represents three postures in salah or prayer that Muslims perform five times in a day — bowing, kneeling and prostration.
Festive fabrics
Based in Jeddah now, Hayat Osamah's 'Soft Gates' is a vibrant tapestry that uses fabric to pay homage to the community and secular neighbourhood of Riyadh where the artist grew up. To create this festive installation along the passageway, Osamah has collected familiar fabrics including leftover materials from her neighbours' celebratory occasions. Saeed Gebaan's chandelier Nafas, on the other hand, reflects on Jeddah's history as a secular port city while architect and artist Asif Khan's Light Upon Light celebrates the Quran's relationship with light, which is a fundamental element in physics and associated with creation in Islam. For example, Quranic chapter Al-Nur describes Allah as the light of the heavens and earth, a light upon light so to speak and Khan's work on folded paper explores the concept of light physically and metaphorically. One of Saudi's leading artists, Ahmed Mater's Magnetism reimagines the K'abah in a miniature version that shows iron particles in motion, strongly attracted by Masjid al-Haram in Mecca. It simultaneously symbolises the ummah profoundly drawn to Mecca's magnetic allure in a state of harmony and serves as a manifestation of the planets and celestial bodies orbiting around an unnameable, ineffable entity that is omniscient and eternal (as Allah is depicted in Quran).
Spread over an area of 100,000 square metres of dedicated exhibition space, the biennale this year consists of seven components. Apart from AlBidayah (The Beginning), there's AlMadar (The Orbit), AlMuqtani (Homage), AlMidhallah (The Canopy), AlMukarramah (The Honored), AlMunawwarah (The Illuminated) and AlMusalla (Place of Prayer). Over 30 major international institutions are taking part, whereas around 30 artists from Saudi Arabia and beyond are showing, with 29 new commissions. Through more than 500 gorgeous objects, the biennale — its
exhibition scenography has been designed by the international architecture firm OMA — tells the story of the richness of Islamic civilisation across ages, unravelling the wisdom and divinity embedded in these exquisite masterpieces and the scientific and intellectual heritage of the Muslim world that the curators hope would contribute to a better and more nuanced understanding of Islam in the 21st century today.
At AlMadar, different countries have lent precious treasures, many of them highlighting Islamic achievements and breakthroughs in mathematics, geometry, geography, science and astronomical knowledge. The journey for this gallery starts with the oldest known bronze astrolabe (probably made in Baghdad) and from here, things only get more exciting as you move past old manuscripts like the Arabic translation of the Conics, doors from Sayyida Nafisa's mausoleum, cartographic gems, and you learn how the Greek tradition of astronomy reached the Muslim world through the translations of Ptolemy, an Alexandrian mathematician and astronomer from 2nd century CE. The Vatican Apostolic Library has shared 11 fascinating objects currently on view in AlMadar, including the Map of the Nile River — a gesture that reflects the Middle East's cultural diplomacy as well as Vatican City's generosity.
Two of the world's leading collections, The Al Thani and the Furusiyya Art Foundation acquisitions, strike a contrasting and yet, cohesive balance in the AlMuqtani pavilion. While the Al Thani collection focuses on the rich diversity of Islamic art, particularly Mughal-era jewels, the Furusiyya Art Foundation celebrates the arms and armour of the Muslim world. The Al Thani collection is the vision of Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al Thani, a member of Qatar's royal family whose passion for the arts and fine aesthetics, and an unerring eye for beauty and provenance runs deep.
This section's main preoccupation is with gemstones, pearls and everything ancient and exceptional. We see a gorgeous jewel-encrusted rose water sprinkler from the Mughal treasury, the earliest dated Mughal jade called Cup of Jahangir, an antique dish with inlaid metalwork celebrating the river Nile, a fine silk robe of a Seljuk prince from Iran/Central Asia, a chess piece from a game that originated in the Gupta period and is still known all over India by its Arabic name 'Shatranj',' and stunning pendants made using the Indian kundan technique.
The collector
Dr Amin Jaffer, director of The Al Thani Collection, says that Sheikh Hamad began collecting at 18, fuelled by his initial enthusiasm for Renaissance architecture. Today, his collection boasts over 5,000 objects. Meanwhile, the Furusiyya Art Foundation collection was assembled by Saudi business magnate Rifaat Sheikh El Ard. Reportedly, the Furusiyya holds over 1,000 pieces, including Islamic daggers, armour, shields and swords. Many of its finest masterpieces are on display at the biennale, some of them shown publicly for the first time such as the extant Mamluk metalwork. Speaking to Wknd. about these two collections, Dr Jaffer says, 'We wanted to bring these collections together not only to celebrate the achievements of the collectors but also because they represent the extraordinary breadth of Islamic artistic achievement. We are not just displaying objects, but telling a rich narrative of human ingenuity and creativity. Each piece is a testament to craftsmanship and culture across Islamic civilisations. Our hope is that visitors will see beyond individual works of art to recognise the profound interconnectedness and beauty of artistic traditions across different Islamic cultures and historical periods.'
The Saudi artist Muhannad Shono is the curator of contemporary art at the biennale. By flanking contemporary art with historical objects the biennale aims to continue the dialogue between past and present and between local and global. With exhibitions in both outdoor and indoor spaces, contemporary art pieces and installations add to the notion of cultural exchange and speak a much younger idiom that should resonate with a younger crowd. Among the standout ones are Sleepers of the Cave by Pakistan-born artists Iqra Tanveer and Ehsan Ul Haq, which is inspired by a parable from the Quran's Al Kahf chapter and Indian artist Asim Wasiq's Min Rukam, an immersive and interactive bamboo assemblage.
A historical city by the Red City that stands at the threshold to Mecca and Medina, Jeddah serves as a perfect backdrop for a biennale of this nature.
Obviously, beyond its spiritual importance, Saudi Arabia is not only the guardian of the two Holy Cities but is also increasingly emerging as a cultural powerhouse.
The second edition of the Islamic Arts Biennale is on view at the iconic Western Hajj Terminal's canopies at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah until May 25.