The second edition of the Islamic Arts Biennale opened this weekend in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The Al Thani Collection is honoured to have been selected for AlMuqtani (“Homage”), the section of the Biennale which recognises the outstanding contribution that individual collectors have made to the appreciation and understanding of Islamic visual and material culture. The Biennale features an exhibition of The Al Thani Collection’s masterpieces from Islamic lands, and the opening was attended by the Collection’s driving force, His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al Thani, shown here with HE Rakan Al Touq, the Deputy Minister of Culture for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. These pieces are shown alongside works of art from The Furusiyyah Collection which is renowned for metalwork, especially works associated with chivalric culture across Islamic civilisations.

The Islamic Arts Biennale is organised by the Diriyah Biennale Foundation and is open until 25 May. Led by Artistic Directors Julian Raby, Amin Jaffer, and Abdul Rahman Azzam, alongside Saudi artist Muhannad Shono as Curator of Contemporary Art, the Biennale offers insights into the ways cultures from around the world interact and endure. The event brings together works by contemporary artists with Islamic art from across the globe, including sacred and secular objects loaned from major institutions worldwide including the Louvre Museum (Paris) and the Victoria and Albert Museum (London), as well as collections devoted specifically to Islamic arts and cultures, such as the Ahmed Baba Institute of Higher Learning and Islamic Research (Timbuktu), the Museum of Islamic Art (Doha), and the Manuscript Institution of Türkiye (Istanbul).

More details can be found here.