Preview the Jameel Prize exhibition, coming to London's V&A, with a focus on moving image and digital media

The winner of the V&A and Art Jameel’s seventh international award for contemporary art and design inspired by Islamic tradition will be showcased alongside shortlisted artists

collage of works by Jameel Prize finalists
Works by Jameel Prize finalists, which will be showcased in an exhibition from 30 November 2024 at the V&A, following the winner's announcement on 27 November
(Image credit: Courtesy of the artists)

The V&A and Art Jameel's international award exhibition for contemporary art and design inspired by Islamic tradition is returning to the V&A South Kensington's Porter Gallery for its seventh edition. Open from 30 November 2024 to 16 March 2025, the free London exhibition highlights the rich artistic heritage of the Islamic Middle East and South Asia, showcasing the vibrant connection between contemporary creativity and the region's historical legacy. The winner of the Jameel Prize, worth £25,000, will be announced on 27 November 2024, and the work of all seven shortlisted artists will be on show.

A frame of a videoclip with animated bits on top

Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh, Hesam Rahmanian, If I had two paths, I would choose a third, 2020, video

(Image credit: Courtesy of the artist)

a piece of artwork showing a fantastical creature and a hand

Sadik Kwaish Alfraji, A Thread of Light Between My Mother’s Fingers and Heaven, 2023, video

(Image credit: Courtesy of the artist)

‘Over the last 15 years the Prize has explored diverse responses to Islamic civilisation in many media. Over this time, too, the range of eligible work has expanded and diversified, allowing us to concentrate on digital media and the moving image for this edition’

Chair of the Jameel Prize jury and V&A Director, Tristram Hunt

‘Jameel Prize: Moving Images’ takes an in-depth look at issues relating to water, ecology, landscape and spirituality through the lens of moving image and digital media. The shortlisted artists, whose practice spans film, sculpture, photography, installation, sound, performance and VR, confront the way in which extractive industries and political dynamics shape the environmental and social fabric of the Middle East and South Asia.

Boy in a field

Alia Farid, Chibayish, 2022, video

(Image credit: Courtesy of the artist)

3D simulation space with ancinet ruins and futuristic elements

Jawa El Khash, The Upper Side of The Sky at Night, 2019, WebGL online simulation

(Image credit: Courtesy of the artist)

Chosen from among more than 300 applicants, the finalists of ‘Jameel Prize: Moving Images’ are Sadik Kwaish Alfraji, Jawa El Khash, Alia Farid, Khandakar Ohida, Zahra Malkani, Marrim Akashi Sani, and Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh & Hesam Rahmanian (as a collective).

Drawing on different aspects of Islamic tradition, the artists address how history is written – exploring the creation and iconoclastic deconstruction of monuments alongside new approaches to museums and collections. Many works use hand-drawn animation and photography to powerfully convey personal testaments to community, resilience, and connection.

scene from a film depicting a manuscript

Khandakar Ohida, Dream Your Museum, 2022, video

(Image credit: Courtesy of the artist)

A box containing various pieces of jewelry

Marrim Akashi Sani, Jewelry Box, from Muharram series, 2023, photography

(Image credit: Courtesy of the artist)

The ‘Jameel Prize: Moving Images’ exhibition is curated by the V&A’s Jameel Curator of Contemporary Art from the Middle East, Rachel Dedman. Following its run at the V&A, it will be showcased at Cartwright Hall in Bradford, the UK's City of Culture in 2025, and will then travel to Jeddah, where it will be displayed at the cutting-edge arts complex and creative hub, Hayy Jameel.

‘Jameel Prize: Moving Images’, 30 November 2024 to 16 March 2025, vam.ac.uk

Smilian Cibic is an Italian-American freelance digital content writer and multidisciplinary artist based in between London and northern Italy. He coordinated the  Wallpaper* Class of '24 exhibition during the Milan Design Week in the Triennale museum and is also an audio-visual artist and musician in the Italian project Delicatoni.