Art has historically been linked to some sort of spirituality. It is a way to connect with a higher self as well as a higher power, and it’s mostly seen as a path to better understand our surrounding while also creating it. Following that train of thought, the Islamic Arts Biennale, celebrated in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) from January 25th to May 25th, 2025, is going to explore “how faith is experienced, expressed, and celebrated through feeling, thinking, and making.”
After a successful first edition in 2023, the Diriyah Biennale Foundation is getting everything ready for the upcoming second edition, expected to be larger, welcoming more visitors, collaborating with more institutions, and enrolling more artists. The 2025 edition is titled And All that Is in Between, referencing a verse that appears several times in the Quran: “And God created the Heavens and the Earth and all that is in between.” The idea of this edition is to bridge past and present by exhibiting historical objects and artefacts important to Islamic culture and juxtaposing them with contemporary works, many of which are especially commissioned to Saudi artists for the IAB.
Speaking of this, Aya Al-Bakree, CEO of the Diriyah Biennale Foundation, says: “The arts of Islamic civilization, both contemporary and historic and that have been made in or inspired by Islamic communities around the world, have influenced cultural discourse for centuries until today.” Indeed, the legacy of Islamic art around the world is incalculable, which is why several international institutions are partnering with the Islamic Arts Biennale to lend some of their objects, including the Louvre in Paris, the V&A Museum in London, the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo, the National Library of Indonesia, the Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah, al-Sabah Collection in Kuwait City, the Trust for the Alhambra and Generalife, Alhambra Museum in Granada, or the Manuscript Institution of Türkiye in Istanbul.
That’s an incredible achievement for just a second edition of an event that aims to become a global meeting point in the crowded international art scene. “With an unwavering purpose to craft perspectives, we are proud to announce the growth of the Islamic Arts Biennale in its second edition, evident through its expert curatorial leadership, and in the participation of world-leading institutions and artists coming together as part of an outstanding program that will cement the Biennale as a global platform for cultural exchange and a reference point for new research into the field,” comments Aya Al-Bakree.
Jeddah, a city that’s historically represented a meeting point of cultures up until today, will host the IAB at the Western Hajj Terminal of King Abdulaziz International Airport. To some Westerners, an airport might seem an odd choice to exhibit artwork; however, as the Diriyah Biennale Foundation explains, it’s a site “that echoes with memory and emotion for millions of Muslim pilgrims embarking on their sacred journeys for Hajj and Umrah every year.” The space will be divided into different areas: AlBidaya (‘The Beginning’), an invitation to experience the sacred; AlMadar (‘The Orbit’), where most historical objects from international institutions will be exhibited; or AlMathala (‘The Canopy’), hosting most of the site specific installations and commissioned artworks for the event.
With a focus on spirituality, mathematics (from numbers to geometry), religion, culture, language, and humankind, the selected artists by the organisation are already working on their pieces to coexist with the centuries-old objects. Among them, we find names like Fatma Abdulhadi, Ahmad Angawi, Saeed Gebaan, Hayat Osama, Nohemi Pérez, Imran Qureshi, Nour Jaouda, Tamara Kalo, Asif Khan, and Takashi Kuribayashi.
To conclude, H. H. Prince Badr Bin Abdullah Bin Farhan Al Saud, Minister of Culture, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Diriyah Biennale Foundation, says: “Building on the remarkable success of the inaugural edition, the second edition of the Islamic Arts Biennale comes with greater ambition, expanded partnerships and a diverse selection of artistic and cultural institutions, patrons, as well as artists from Saudi Arabia and countries that have rich Islamic culture and traditions.”
