The course is held in the Western Hajj Terminal at King Abdulaziz Airport
The launch of the “Musalla Award” for an architectural design for a prayer hall coincides with the opening
The team of curators includes an elite group of experts and creative people
The Biennale brings together archaeological objects and new works of art
The Diriyah Biennial Foundation has set January 2025 as the date for holding the second session of the “Islamic Arts Biennial,” which will witness for the first time the launch of the international “Musalla Prize.” The next session of the “Islamic Arts Biennale” will be inaugurated in the Hajj Lounge at King Abdulaziz Airport, receiving visitors from January until May of the same year. The total area of the site is more than 110,000 square metres, of which the area of its exhibitions extends over more than 12,000 square metres.
The biennial is supervised by an elite group of international curators, including the artistic director, Dr. Amin Jaafar, director of the Al Thani Collection, whose academic and artistic works deal with the intersections of European and Asian cultures, and the artistic director, Dr. Julian Raby, a former lecturer in Islamic arts and architecture at the University of Oxford and the former director of the museum. The National Museum of Asian Art of the Smithsonian Institution and a member of the curatorial team for the first session of the Islamic Arts Biennale, and the writer and historian Dr. Abdul Rahman Azzam, advisor to the Al-Madar exhibition and forum within the first session of the Islamic Arts Biennale in 2023, in addition to the curator of contemporary art works, the Saudi artist Muhannad. Showno, who participated as a new commission in the first session of the Biennale and represented the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the 59th International Art Exhibition within the Venice Biennale 2022.
Deputy Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Diriyah Biennial Foundation, Rakan Al-Tawq, confirmed that the return of the Islamic Arts Biennial for its second session came after the exceptional success achieved by the first session, to complete its mission of shedding light on the treasures of Islamic civilization and its history.
He added that the second session of the Biennale will witness the return of the “Al-Madar” exhibition and forum in an expanded manner, which brings together major local and international Islamic arts institutions under its umbrella. It will also include two separate pavilions for Mecca and Medina that will showcase the ancient history of the two sites, so that the Biennale will continue its promise of enriching dialogue and building bridges of communication between the past and the present.
For her part, Aya Al-Bakri, CEO of the Diriyah Biennale Foundation, indicated that the Foundation was keen to select a team of creative curators, based on its commitment to organizing and managing international art and cultural exhibitions, and in continuation of the success it achieved in the first session.
Regarding the “Musalla Award,” the Diriyah Biennale Foundation revealed that it is an international architectural design competition, emphasizing the importance of architecture as an essential element of Islamic arts and civilization, and in reference to the status that the site acquires as a prominent architectural edifice that has won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. This international competition will be presented periodically with each new session of the Biennale, in which participants will submit a new design for a temporary prayer hall, and the winning design will be built on the Biennale grounds.
The competition will give priority to designs that apply high standards of environmental sustainability, and more details about the award, including the names of the jury members, will be announced in the coming weeks.
The Ministry of Culture’s selection of this hall, with its unique tents, to host the Biennale comes as an affirmation of the historical importance of this site, and to enrich its role in providing a forum for cultural exchange and celebration of Islamic arts, and to support the artistic scene in Jeddah and the Kingdom in general, as the Biennale provides an important platform for cultural convergence and unleashing creativity. Giving its visitors the opportunity to explore what Islamic cultures and arts have contributed throughout the ages and their influence on global civilizations and societies.
The first session of the Islamic Arts Biennale, which was held in 2023 under the slogan “The First House,” achieved great success with the attendance of more than 600,000 visitors, including about 40 works of art and about 500 artifacts loaned from various local and international institutions.
The Diriyah Biennial Foundation is a non-profit cultural institution established by the Ministry of Culture in 2020, with the aim of promoting creative expression in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Foundation is responsible for organizing the Diriyah Biennial Exhibition for Contemporary Art in Riyadh, alternating with the Islamic Arts Biennial in Jeddah, in addition to supervising the development of the Diriyah Biennale for Contemporary Art in Riyadh. JAX in Diriyah, which houses its headquarters and the works of many artists and artistic institutions.
Julian Rabe
An art director, he obtained a BA with honors from Magdalene College, University of Oxford in 1971, and a PhD in 1981. He completed his career with the University of Oxford as a lecturer in Islamic art and architecture between 1979 and 2006, in addition to managing the Freer Art Gallery and the Arthur M. Sackler, who come together under the umbrella of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, D.C., from 2002 to 2017.
He is the author of many books and publications dealing with Islamic art, including “Iznik: Ottoman Pottery of Turkey” (1989), “Turkish Bookbinding in the Fifteenth Century: Establishing the Ottoman Court Style” (1993), and “Qajar Paintings” (1999). He also published a wide range of research dealing with various topics, including “metalwork in Mosul in the thirteenth century,” the “classical renaissance” of architecture in the Zengid and Ayyubid states in Syria, and “the Jalairi and Timurid art collections in the Diez albums.” What is striking about his research is its touch on cross-cultural topics, as in his book “Venice, Dior and Oriental Style” (1982), and his study of the Greek manuscripts in the library of Mehmed the Conqueror and the inscriptions engraved on the Phoenix of Pisa.
Over the past years, Rabi has worked as a curator, designer, and consultant for numerous art galleries and museums, including “Iznik: The Pottery of Ottoman Turkey” (Istanbul, 1989), and “Royal Persian Painting: The Qajar Era” (New York, Los Angeles, and London, 1999). , and “The Sultan’s Portrait: Imagining the House of Osman” (Istanbul, 2000). During his tenure at the Smithsonian Institution, he oversaw the launch of more than fifty special exhibitions, including Containing the World: Portugal and the World in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (2007) and Style and Status: Imperial Fashion from the Time of Ottoman Turkey ( 2005-2006), “Iraq and China: Pottery, Trade, and Innovation” (2007), and “The Art of the Qur’an: Treasures from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts” (2016-2017).
Raby’s professional accomplishments include founding and editing the Oxford Studies in Islamic Art series, serving as editor of archaeological and historical studies with the British Institute in Amman, and founding Azimuth Editions, an Asian art publisher.
In recognition of his contributions to promoting the study and appreciation of the arts and their traditions, he was awarded Orders of Merit in Portugal, Turkey and Japan.
Amin Jaafar
Dr. Amin Jaafar manages the Al Thani Collection, a comprehensive art collection that includes more than 5,000 pieces of art dating back centuries and expressing the vision of Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al Thani.
He previously held the position of Chief Curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and International Director of Asian Art at Christie’s, in addition to authoring and editing several works, including Furniture of British India and Ceylon (2001) at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and Luxury Goods : From the Arts of the Indian Cabinetmaker” (2002), and “Made for the Maharaja: A Design Memoir of Princely India” (2006).
Jaafar served as co-curator of a number of exhibitions, including “Encounters: The Encounter of Asia and Europe, 1500-1800” (2004) and “Maharaja: The Splendor of the Indian Court” (2009) at the Victoria and Albert Museum, while co-editing the related books, and the exhibition “ From the Great Mughals to the Maharajas: Jewelry from the Al Thani Collection” at the Grand Palais in Paris and Palazzo Ducale in Venice (2017). He also edited the book “Beyond Luxury: A Royal Collection of Gems and Jewelry” (2013, second edition 2019).
In 2018, he curated a double exhibition in the Forbidden City in Beijing entitled “Treasures from the Al Thani Collection”, while editing his own books. At the same time, he and Martin Chapman organized the exhibition “When East Meets West: Maharaja’s Jewelery from the Al Thani Collection” at the Legion of Honor Museum in San Francisco between 2018 and 2019. He will then organize the exhibition “Man, God, and Nature in the Ancient World: Masterpieces from the Al Thani Collection” at the Tokyo National Museum in 2019.
Jaafar supervised the design of the Al Thani Group’s museum spaces within the Hotel de la Marine in Paris, which received wide acclaim when they opened in November 2021. Since then, these spaces have formed a platform for many exhibitions in cooperation with well-established institutions, including the Kalousti Gulbenkian Museum. in Lisbon, the Galleria Giorgio Franchitti alla Ca’ d’Oro in Venice, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Note that preparations are currently underway for the exhibition “Tasting the Renaissance: A Dialogue Between Artistic Groups,” which is the second exhibition in a series of three exhibitions held in cooperation with the Victoria and Albert Museum, and is scheduled to open on March 6, 2024.
Abdul Rahman Azzam
An artistic director who holds a bachelor’s degree and a doctorate in Middle Eastern and Islamic history from the University of Oxford, he has written several books in this field, including “Salah al-Din: The Triumph of the Sunni Renaissance” (2008), “The Denial of the Other” (2017), and “The Return of Sebastian” (2021).
He worked as Director of Communications and Cultural Advisor to Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, President of the Qatar Foundation, from 2007 to 2017. During this period, he led the partnership project between Qatar Foundation and the British Library in 2010, which has resulted in the digitization of nearly three million documents to date. In addition, he was a member of the joint advisory committee for Northwestern University and the Qatar National Library designed by the architecture firm OMA.
He had previously served as Executive Director of the Islamic Texts Association, and founded Hudhud Publishing House, before becoming a member of the Kitab Project, a forum for historians and computer scientists that aims to employ the latest computing technologies and digital sciences in studying and exploring historical Arabic texts, with the aim of disseminating knowledge of one of the greatest traditions. The most accurate text in the world.
In 2019, he worked on an innovative collaborative project in the field of digital humanities, with the aim of developing modern digital methods to be used in specialized research on the biography of the Prophet (may God bless him and grant him peace). Also within the framework of digital humanities applications, Azzam is currently working on a network analysis project of issues of power and patronage during the period of Saladin.
It is worth noting that Azzam was among the senior advisors in the (Al-Madar) exhibition and forum within the first edition of the Islamic Arts Biennale in 2023.
Muhannad Shono
Born in Riyadh in 1977, Shownu is a multidisciplinary visual artist with a degree in architecture. By combining the delicacy of ink works on paper and massive technological installations, he succeeded in establishing his position as one of the most original and creative artistic faces in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Shono’s meditative narrative works are inspired by themes of mythology, the symbolism of lines, light, and abandoned places. In 2002, he represented the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at the 59th International Art Exhibition – Venice Biennale with his project “The Logic of Trees.”
He has participated in numerous bilateral exhibitions and festivals, including the Maritime Art Festival in Busan (2023), the Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah (2023), the Nour Riyadh Festival (2022 and 2023), the Lyon Biennale (2022), and the Diriyah Biennial of Contemporary Art (2021). and Desert The GAM Sculpture Park in Turin (2019), the MACBA Museum in Barcelona (2018), the Ithra Center in Dhahran (2019), 21.39 Jeddah Art (2020 and 2017), and the House of World Cultures in Berlin (2017).
Today, Shownault’s works are displayed in the collections of the British Museum in London, the Art Jameel Foundation in Dubai, the Pompidou Center in Paris, the Ithra Center in Dhahran, and the Mansouriya Foundation in Riyadh. He is the recipient of the National Culture Award in the Visual Arts category for the years 2021-2022 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia, and Kehrer Verlag Publishing House plans to publish a new book by him entitled “The Works of Muhannad Shono.” [2014-2024]». He lives and works in Riyadh, represented by Athar Gallery.
Biennial of Islamic Arts
The Islamic Arts Biennial, organized by the Diriyah Biennale Foundation, provides a platform to host and encourage dialogue and expand knowledge of Islamic arts, through the opportunities it provides for learning, research and reflection in its various fields. The Biennale of Islamic Arts is held once every two years in the Western Pilgrims Terminal at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, the city that has historically represented the main transit gateway for pilgrims and visitors heading to the Sacred House of God in Mecca.
Diriyah Biennial Foundation
Based on the rapid growth witnessed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the rich cultural heritage of the Diriyah site, the Diriyah Biennale Foundation plays a major role in nurturing creative expression and instilling values of appreciation towards various aspects of culture and arts and their ability to bring about major transformations. The Foundation aspires to motivate the individual and society as a whole to learn lifelong, and aspires to serve all segments of society by providing opportunities to participate in the local artistic scene, which is witnessing unprecedented growth and prosperity. In this context, the Foundation undertakes the task of organizing an annual biennial exhibition, alternating between the Diriyah Biennial of Contemporary Art and the Biennial of Islamic Arts in Jeddah, in addition to purposeful interactive educational programs continuing throughout the year, in addition to supervising the development of the Jax neighborhood, the industrial heritage site in Diriyah, which has become today A creative center and space for interaction between all poles of the artistic community. At this historic moment of development and growth in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, these biennials showcase some of the most prominent international artists and advance cultural exchange between the Kingdom and all parts of the world, in addition to enhancing dialogue and understanding, and consolidating the position of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as a global cultural pole.
