'Refined, serene, provocative': inside the Islamic Arts Biennale 2025

Airports – a place of arrivals, departures and myriad emotions – are a fitting metaphor for transitions in life, so for the Islamic Arts Biennale 2025 to be staged in the outdoor Western Hajj Terminal at the King Abdulaziz Airport in Jeddah is inspired. The vast canopied outdoor space designed by SOM architects is where millions of Muslim pilgrims from across the world congregate to begin and end their sacred pilgrimage to the holy city of Makkah (Mecca) during Ramadan.

From now until the end of May 2025, this second edition of the Islamic Arts Biennale will welcome hundreds of thousands of visitors to explore the many wonders of ‘And All That is In Between’, staged in thematically curated pavilions and in a quadrant courtyard garden boasting newly planted borders and contemporary art commissions. The event, spearheaded by the Diriyah Biennale Foundation and Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Culture, is refined, serene, provocative and simultaneously joyous in its cross currents and cultural exchange.

The artistic directors are a robust, international team with Dr Julian Raby (a British Islamic expert and former director at the Smithsonian); Dr Amin Jaffer (director of the Al Thani Collection in Paris); Dr Abdul Rahman Azzam (cultural advisor and historian); and Mohannad Shono (contemporary art curator) overseeing respective teams, including many young female experts, that started working on the project 18 months ago. The 2023 show attracted 600,000 visitors and this edition expands the vision and ambition under the leadership of CEO Aya AlBakree.

‘The title is taken from a phrase that appears 20 times in the Noble Qur’an, “And God created the Heavens and the Earth and all that is in between”. It explores how we endeavour to comprehend the wonders of creation and how man has responded to these, how the most sacred objects in Islam engender feeling, thinking and intellect,’ says Raby of the enigmatic umbrella theme.

The curation includes never-seen-before artefacts, among them over 260 objects loaned from global institutions including the V&A, the Louvre, and the Vatican, plus selections from two expansive private collections: the Al Thani Collection and Furusiyya Art Foundation.

The Islamic Arts Biennale consists of seven components: AlBidayah (‘The Beginning’), AlMadar (‘The Orbit’), AlMuqtani (‘Homage’), AlMidhallah (‘The Canopy’), AlMukarramah (‘The Honored’), AlMunawwarah (‘The Illuminated’), and AlMusalla. It is spread through indoor galleries and outdoor areas, across 100,000 sq m, with the scenography designed by architecture firm OMA.

The navigation starts with AlBidayah, devoted to the Holy Qa’ran (the word of God) in the shape of ancient manuscripts, and to Ka’bah (the house of God) in the shape of vast black and gold, silver calligraphic embroidered drapery (kiswah) that traditionally covers the cuboid Ka’bahs in the two sacred cities of Makkah al-Mukarramah and Al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (the drapery is changed annually, and on display here is last year's). In 2024, women were granted permission to work on its making. The drapery, replaced annually, appears majestic in the translucent white veiled room sets designed by OMA. Other artefacts include the vast copper key (1230-1349 CE) to the Ka’bah that has been entrusted for safekeeping to 100 generations of the same family.

The curation nimbly vaults through time and geographies juxtaposing ancient with contemporary, and including Italian artist Arcangelo Sassolino’s Memory of Becoming, a vast rotating black steel disc dripping with oil. ‘This liquid painting is changing constantly and reflects life,’ says Sassolino. Another beauty is Glass Qur’an by London-based Asif Khan composed of 604 hand-gilded glass folios.

Science and tech nerds will be delighted by AlMadah, which houses an extraordinary collection of Astrolabes – ancient, engraved copper navigational tools that mapped the stars – alongside scholarly books by figures including Italian and Greek mathematicians Fibonacci and Euclid and annotated in Arabic. The works are exhibited in vitrines interspersed with searing columns. It shows how fundamental the numeric system is to Islamic culture. ‘The Astrolabe’s magic exemplifies intellectual gravitas,’ says curator Masa Al Kutobi, noting how numbers are ingrained in everyday Muslim life. The galleries also feature Tashkent manuscripts alongside early architectural drawings, and hand-drawn maps.

‘What was it that made these people want to make something beautiful that speaks of symmetry and harmony and put their minds and hearts into it?’ asks Dr Azzam of the fusion of practicality and aesthetics. The geometry of roshan (wooden casement windows) are given a spotlight too, with a study completed by the Kings Foundation School of Traditional Arts in the UK.

The obsessive nature of collecting is highlighted in AlMuqtani, which houses exhibits from the encyclopaedic Al Thani Collection, the vision of Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al Thani and the Furusiyya Arts Foundation. ‘This is an homage to visionary collections focusing on the tangible and material – works of art that reflect faith and express taste and vision from the neolithic to the contemporary,’ says curator, Dr Amin Jaffer. The huge Briolette of India diamond (90.3ct) dazzles alongside an exquisite ruby and emerald inlaid gold parrot (Mughal 1775-1825CE), Ming porcelain and Mughal jade cups. By contrast, Furusiyya is dedicated to Timurid armour (c.1420 CE) and metalwork from crusader daggers to intricate inkwells.

The courtyard garden, with work including Osman Yousefzada’s Arrivals installation of stacked stools and Takashi Kuribayashi’s oil drums, provides a meditative segue to AlMukarramah (‘The Honored’), while AlMunawwarah (‘The Illuminated’) features vast sacred green and gold drapery made for the prophet’s tomb and black and gold kiswah.

One of my highlights is a 1924 film by photographer Georgio Krugers that documents the journey made by pilgrims from Indonesia by boat, by horse and on foot to Makkah. It’s a journey that will be undertaken again and again by subsequent generations albeit now by plane, coach and 4x4.

How tradition meets the future is exemplified in the award-winning pavilion of the new AlMusalla Prize by EAST Architecture Studio, in collaboration with artist Rayyane Tabet and engineers AKT II. Constructed from boards made from compressed palm frond waste, woven panels made of 200km of vegetal dyed threads, and palm rush prayer mats, the pavilion is an ingenious ecological structure that can be assembled and disassembled for future use. An estimated 2.7 million tons of palm frond waste go into landfill or are burnt annually.

While Western culture continues to divide and demarcate between design, architecture, art, and craft, the Islamic Arts Biennale highlights the synergies of all practices. There is no hierarchy and this lends this story-rich exhibition a wide and resonant appeal. ‘Truth and beauty will endure and this calm, confident, Biennale instils pride,’ says Dr Azzam.

The Islamic Arts Biennale runs until 25 May 2025

biennale.org.sa