The Islamic Arts Biennale 23.01.2023 – 23.04.2023

The Islamic Arts Biennale unites millennia of religious tradition and creative expression in its first edition. The Biennale, which is taking place at the famous Hajj Terminal at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, honors accomplishments in the fields of culture, knowledge, and the arts that have their roots in the House of Allah, Awwal Bait (“First House”).

TEAM OF CREATORS AND CURATORS

The creative and curatorial team for the Islamic Arts Biennale is multi-disciplinary, combining expertise in archaeology, architecture, and conservation.
Furthermore, Each participant contributes to the Biennale with their viewpoint to highlight the significance/beauty of the cities for Muslims worldwide. Makkah al-Mukarramah and al-Madinah al-Munawwarah.

THE PLACE – The Islamic Arts Biennale

The iconic Hajj Terminal, was created by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in 1981. Also, it won the 1983 Aga Khan Prize for Architecture, and is currently the site of the first Islamic Arts Biennale in the history of the event. Moreover, The Biennale will make the Hajj Terminal more useful and spiritually significant by transforming it into a center for honoring Islamic art and culture and supporting Jeddah’s regional arts community all year long. Additionally, This historic creative event spans a purpose-built 70,000m2 facility. Which is furnished with a theater, exhibition spaces, workshops, classrooms, as well as retail and food areas.

Also, a historically unique blending of institutional collections from Mali, Egypt, Tunisia, Greece, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Oman, and Qatar.
Moreover, To fully appreciate the significance of the Biennale’s location at the iconic Hajj Terminal, visitors are encouraged to learn more about how the ground-breaking building was created, how millions of pilgrims embraced it, and why it continues to serve as a symbol of Saudi Arabia’s dynamic and forward-thinking energy.

ALMADR: CONNECTIONS MEET COLLECTIONS

AlMadar, which means “the orbit” in Arabic, is a satellite exhibition in conjunction with the Islamic Arts Biennale that aims to pave the way for future alliances and partnerships.
AlMadar aspires to become a global reference and repository for thought-provoking dialogue, as well as a nexus for the exchange of practices and innovative research around tangible and intangible traditions of arts and culture from the Islamic World. To that end, it invites and brings together institutions and individuals from the Kingdom. In addition all over the world to showcase their collections in a dedicated gallery space.

Moreover, The event this year begins with a tribute to its patron, Sheikh Nasser Al-Sabah (1948-2020). In addition, it marks the 40th anniversary of the ground-breaking al-Sabah Collection at Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah in Kuwait.