The City of Medina | Capital of Islamic Culture | Witnesses Two Revolutionary Exhibition | Illumination & Word

The historic city of Medina is the 2013 Capital of Islamic Culture, and to close in a year of innovative programming around the arts, presents two revolutionary exhibitions inspired by the city through the art of calligraphy and photography. Organised by the Medina municipality and held in collaboration, for the first time, with the British Museum in Saudi Arabia, these exhibitions aim to present the pioneering movement the Kingdom has reached in promoting art and culture, in and around the region.

The ‘Word’ exhibition, curated by Saleh Barakat, Founder of Barakat Gallery in Beirut, Lebanon, Venetia Porter, Assistant Keeper, Department of the Middle East, The British Museum and Mohammed Hafiz, Vice-Chairman of The Saudi Art Council and Co-Founder of Athr Gallery highlights the historical connotation Medina has as a centre of learning and tradition since the times of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), where the power of the word was elevated through art and calligraphy, and has maintained its stance to the present. 

The exhibition demonstrates a selection of artistic expressions throughout the Islamic world in classical and contemporary styles by local, regional and international artists including Abdel-Qader Al Raes, Farhad Moshiri, Hassan Massoudy, Nasser Al-Salem, Fuad Kocihi Honda, Hajji Noor Deen Mi Guangjiang, Nja Mahdaoui and Rashed Alakbarov, amongst others. In addition, part of the British Museum’s ‘Word into Art’ collection will be displayed.

“These exhibitions, side by side, through the diversity of works, present the history of a city that has long been documented for it pilgrims, archaeology, landscape and architecture,” says Mohammed Hafiz. “These words and illuminations of Medina reveal a city that is simultaneously old and new, familiar and unexpected; reveal a true identity of an Islamic city inspired by poetry and art, which in turn relevant today as inspiration to artists all over the world.”

‘Illumination’, presents a two-part chronological exhibition of photos and contemporary commissions by local and international photographers inspired by the history and modern representations of the city and its urban life, significant monuments, recognisable landmarks and further historical sights.

This exhibition features the first photographs ever taken in Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (The Sadeq Bey photographs from 1880 AD and Mirza images from 1881 AD) leading to current pieces by Ahmed Mater, Abdulnasser Gharem, Arwa Al-Neimy, Adel Qureshi and Faisal Al-Maliki, amongst others. A section committed to historical photography is supported by the publication of the Book “Al Madinah Al Munawwarah” by Brazilian photographer and photo researcher, Humberto da Silveira. The second section of the exhibition captures the essence of the city today.