Jeddah to host Islamic Arts Biennale

Jeddah to host Islamic Arts Biennale

ISTANBUL
Jeddah to host Islamic Arts Biennale

The second edition of the "Islamic Arts Biennale," organized by the Diriyah Biennale Foundation to support arts and culture in Saudi Arabia, will take place from Jan. 25 to May 25.

According to a statement from the foundation, the event will be held at the Western Hajj Terminal of King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, with the theme "And Everything in Between."

The biennale aims to explore how Islamic cultural objects are brought together with contemporary art, focusing on how faith is experienced, expressed, and celebrated through emotion, thought and creation.

More than 30 international institutions from Türkiye, Denmark, Egypt, France, Greece, Indonesia, Italy, Kuwait, Mali, Oman, Palestine, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Tunisia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Uzbekistan and Vatican City will participate in the event.

In addition to the Manuscripts Institution of Türkiye, prestigious institutions such as the Louvre Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum, Ahmed Baba Institute, King Abdulaziz World Cultural Center, King Fahad National Library, Vatican Apostolic Library and Qatar Museum of Islamic Art will also be part of the event.

The biennale, with the artistic direction of Julian Raby, Amin Jaffer, Abdul Rahman Azzam, and Muhannad Shono, will host works from artists like Nour Jaouda, Charwei Tsai, Imran Qureshi, Takashi Kuribayashi, Ahmed Mater, and Fatma Abdulhadi, along with artists from around the world.

The event spread over approximately 100,000 square meters, consists of seven main components: "Al Bidaya," "Al Madar," "Al Muqtani," "Al Mathala," "Al Mukarramah," "Al Munawwarah" and "Al Musalla."

The event will also include a competition rewarding the innovative architecture of Muslim communities. Finalists in the competition include designers from AAU Anastas (Palestine), Sahel AlHiyari (Jordan), EAST Architecture Studio (Lebanon/UAE), Dabbagh Architects (Saudi Arabia/UAE) and Asif Khan (United Kingdom).

The winning design of the competition, chaired by Prince Nawaf Bin Ayyaf, will be announced at the biennale's opening.

The Diriyah Biennale Foundation is an organization established to support Saudi Arabia's artistic and cultural transformation.

In addition to Islamic and contemporary art biennales, the foundation promotes cultural dialogue between local and international communities.