The second edition of the Islamic Arts Biennale, titled And All That Is In Between, features as its centrepiece segments of the “kiswa”, the black cloth embroidered with gold and silver that covers the Kaaba, the cubic building towards which all Muslims pray.
“This bringing together of the contemporary and the past really emphasises the change that Saudi Arabia is going through,“ said Saudi artist Muhannad Shono, curator of the exhibition.
As a result of the prohibition of such depictions in most Sunni Muslim schools of thought, geometric patterns came to be widely prevalent in Islamic art.
Traditional conceptions
A few metres (yards) away, Franco-Lebanese artist Tamara Kalo had recreated the camera obscura, the precursor to the modern camera invented in the 11th century by Muslim philosopher Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen).
The exhibition has also encouraged artists to be bold with scale, as can be seen from a massive disc covered in petrol – a nod to Saudi Arabia’s position as the world’s leading crude exporter – that spins endlessly.
Under his “Vision 2030”, de facto Saudi leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has sought to transform the kingdom’s image, weighed down by decades of repression and ultraconservatism.
Efforts to project “openness”, including the biennale, are “key to the success of Vision 2030”, he said.
Strategically located in a terminal adjacent to the one reserved for Muslims on a pilgrimage to Mecca, the Jeddah biennale attracts a mix of both art enthusiasts and pilgrims.
The first edition in 2023 attracted 600,000 visitors – approaching the Venice Biennale’s 700,000 visitors in 2024.
“That internationalism is exactly the opposite of how many people consider Saudi Arabia. They look at Saudi Arabia and consider it as a cloistered country,“ said Raby.
In front of her monumental sculpture, a black steel bush of roses floating above a fountain, Jordanian artist Raya Kassisieh was proud to benefit from the platform provided by the biennale.
“We are able and at the level to converse and share space with the West,“ she said. – AFP
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