Islamic Arts Biennale: Reconnecting the Muslim World with Its Artistic Heritage

The Islamic Arts Biennale, inaugurated in Jeddah in January 2023, represents Saudi Arabia’s most culturally significant contribution to the global exhibition landscape. Unlike the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale, which positions Saudi Arabia within international contemporary art discourse, the Islamic Arts Biennale claims a different territory entirely — the vast, rich, and deeply meaningful tradition of art created within and inspired by Islamic civilization across fourteen centuries and multiple continents.

Held at the Western Hajj Terminal at King Abdulaziz International Airport — a structure originally designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and itself a masterpiece of Islamic-inspired architecture — the biennale’s first edition attracted over 600,000 visitors and generated international critical acclaim for its ambitious scope, sophisticated curatorial approach, and emotional resonance. The choice of Saudi Arabia as the home for this biennale carries particular weight: as custodian of Islam’s holiest sites, the Kingdom occupies a unique position from which to present and interpret the artistic traditions of the Muslim world.

First Edition: January–April 2023

Curatorial Vision

The inaugural Islamic Arts Biennale was curated with an intellectual ambition that distinguished it from decorative arts exhibitions or heritage surveys. Rather than presenting Islamic art as a historical artifact, the biennale’s curatorial team — led by artistic directors who brought both deep knowledge of Islamic artistic traditions and contemporary curatorial practice — created an exhibition that explored the living relationship between faith, creativity, and human expression.

The exhibition was organized around the concept of the Qibla — the direction of prayer — as both a physical orientation and a metaphor for the spiritual direction that guides artistic creation in Islamic cultures. This conceptual framework allowed the curators to move beyond chronological or geographic organization, instead creating thematic connections between historical masterpieces and contemporary works that engage with Islamic artistic traditions.

The Western Hajj Terminal

The choice of the Western Hajj Terminal as the biennale venue was inspired. The terminal, designed by SOM in the 1980s, features a soaring tent-like roof structure of Teflon-coated fiberglass that covers an area of 430,000 square meters — making it one of the largest covered spaces in the world. The building’s design was explicitly inspired by traditional Bedouin tent structures, and its sweeping white canopy creates a dramatic, light-filled interior that evokes both shelter and transcendence.

The terminal normally serves as the arrival point for millions of Hajj pilgrims, connecting it directly to the spiritual journey that lies at the heart of Islamic practice. Repurposing this space for an art exhibition created resonant layers of meaning — the terminal that welcomes pilgrims on their spiritual journey now hosted an exhibition exploring the artistic expressions of the faith that motivates that journey.

Exhibition Structure

The first edition was organized into two primary sections: “Qibla” and “Hiwar” (Dialogue). The Qibla section presented historical artifacts and artworks drawn from major international collections, while the Hiwar section featured contemporary commissions that responded to Islamic artistic traditions from a present-day perspective.

Qibla Section

The Qibla section brought together extraordinary objects from collections worldwide — Quranic manuscripts, architectural elements, calligraphic masterpieces, textiles, ceramics, metalwork, and scientific instruments that demonstrated the breadth and depth of Islamic artistic achievement. Loans from institutions including the British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, Louvre, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Islamic Art Doha, and the Aga Khan Museum created an exhibition of a caliber rarely achieved outside the largest Western museums.

The curatorial approach in this section was notable for avoiding the encyclopedic survey approach that has characterized many Islamic art exhibitions. Instead, objects were grouped thematically to illuminate specific ideas — the role of light in Islamic aesthetics, the relationship between text and image, the mathematics of pattern, the spiritual dimensions of geometric abstraction. This approach made the exhibition intellectually stimulating for specialists while remaining accessible to general audiences.

Hiwar Section

The Hiwar section represented the biennale’s most distinctive contribution. Sixty-plus contemporary artists were commissioned to create new works that engaged with Islamic artistic traditions — not as pastiche or nostalgia, but as living creative dialogue. These commissions included large-scale installations, immersive environments, sound works, digital art, and sculptural pieces that explored how Islamic aesthetic principles — geometry, calligraphy, light, pattern, abstraction — inform contemporary creative practice.

The contemporary commissions were diverse in medium, scale, and approach. Some artists created monumental installations that filled entire galleries. Others produced intimate, contemplative works that invited close engagement. The range demonstrated that Islamic artistic traditions remain a vital source of creative energy for contemporary artists worldwide, not merely a historical heritage to be preserved and admired.

Calligraphy: The Supreme Islamic Art

Historical Significance

The Islamic Arts Biennale gave particular prominence to calligraphy — the art form most deeply embedded in Islamic culture and most closely connected to the sacred text of the Quran. The exhibition traced the development of Arabic calligraphy from the earliest Kufic scripts through the classical hands — Naskh, Thuluth, Nastaliq, Diwani — to contemporary calligraphic practice.

Contemporary Calligraphy

The biennale featured a significant section on contemporary calligraphy — artists who work with Arabic script as a visual art form, pushing beyond traditional calligraphic conventions while maintaining connection to the tradition’s spiritual and aesthetic roots. This field, sometimes called “hurufiyya” (from the Arabic for “letters”), has produced some of the Arab world’s most internationally recognized contemporary artists.

Contemporary calligraphic artists featured in the biennale employed diverse approaches: some maintained the discipline of traditional calligraphic practice while creating works at architectural scale; others abstracted letterforms to the point of pure visual expression; still others combined calligraphy with digital technology, creating animated, interactive, or immersive calligraphic environments.

The inclusion of contemporary calligraphy alongside historical manuscripts and inscriptions created a powerful narrative of artistic continuity — demonstrating that calligraphy remains a living art form, not merely a heritage tradition. This narrative aligned with the biennale’s broader mission of presenting Islamic art as a vital, evolving tradition rather than a closed historical chapter.

Architecture and Sacred Space

Islamic Architecture in the Exhibition

Architecture — the art form that most directly shapes the experience of sacred space in Islam — was a central theme of the biennale. The exhibition explored the principles of Islamic architecture through models, drawings, photographs, and architectural fragments, tracing the evolution of mosque design, garden layouts, palace architecture, and urban planning across the Islamic world.

The curatorial approach emphasized the underlying principles that unite diverse architectural traditions — the use of geometry to create ordered space, the manipulation of light to evoke transcendence, the integration of water and garden as paradise imagery, and the relationship between public and private space that reflects Islamic social values.

Commissioned Architectural Installations

Several contemporary architects and designers were commissioned to create installations that explored Islamic architectural principles in contemporary terms. These commissions included immersive environments that recreated the experience of Islamic sacred spaces using contemporary materials and technologies, as well as structural experiments that translated traditional geometric and spatial principles into new forms.

These architectural commissions were among the biennale’s most popular and photographed installations, demonstrating the continued power of Islamic spatial principles to create environments of beauty and contemplation.

Faith and Art: Navigating the Intersection

Theological Dimensions

The Islamic Arts Biennale navigated the complex relationship between art and faith in Islam with sensitivity and intellectual rigor. Islamic theology has a nuanced and sometimes contested relationship with visual representation — the well-known prohibition on figurative imagery in religious contexts coexists with rich traditions of figural representation in secular Islamic art, particularly in Persian, Mughal, and Ottoman traditions.

The biennale’s curatorial approach acknowledged these complexities without simplifying them. The exhibition presented the diversity of Islamic attitudes toward visual representation as a source of creative richness rather than a limitation, showing how the emphasis on non-figurative expression in religious contexts generated extraordinary achievements in calligraphy, geometry, pattern, and abstraction — artistic languages that anticipate and resonate with twentieth-century Western modernism.

Spiritual Experience

Many visitors reported that the biennale created a profound spiritual experience — not in a sectarian or doctrinal sense, but through the cumulative impact of encountering centuries of artistic expression motivated by faith. The combination of historical sacred objects (Quranic manuscripts, prayer rugs, architectural elements from mosques) with contemporary installations exploring transcendence and contemplation created an exhibition that engaged visitors emotionally and spiritually as well as intellectually and aesthetically.

This spiritual dimension was enhanced by the venue — the Hajj Terminal’s soaring canopy, with its evocation of shelter and journey, provided a setting that amplified the exhibition’s contemplative qualities. The biennale demonstrated that contemporary art exhibitions can create spaces for genuine spiritual engagement, not merely intellectual or aesthetic appreciation.

International Response and Critical Reception

Art World Response

The inaugural Islamic Arts Biennale received exceptionally positive critical response from the international art world. Critics praised the ambition of the exhibition, the quality of the historical loans, the strength of the contemporary commissions, and the sophisticated curatorial approach that avoided both heritage nostalgia and uncritical cultural celebration.

Museum Professional Response

Museum professionals — directors, curators, and conservators — were particularly impressed by the technical quality of the exhibition. The environmental conditions in the Hajj Terminal were managed to museum standards (a significant achievement given the building’s original purpose), the display design was sophisticated and appropriate to the objects, and the conservation and handling of borrowed masterpieces met international standards.

This technical competence mattered for Saudi Arabia’s institutional credibility. Demonstrating that Saudi institutions can borrow, handle, display, and return masterpieces from the world’s great museums builds the trust necessary for future collaborations and for Saudi Arabia’s ambitions to develop permanent museum collections of international significance.

Second Edition Planning

Expanded Vision

The Diriyah Biennale Foundation, which produces the Islamic Arts Biennale alongside the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale, has indicated that the second edition will build on the first edition’s success while expanding its scope and deepening its curatorial ambition.

Areas of potential expansion include greater representation of Islamic artistic traditions from Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Central Asia — regions that were present but underrepresented in the first edition. The second edition may also explore Islamic artistic traditions in the digital age, including AI-generated calligraphy, virtual mosque architecture, and digital preservation of endangered Islamic heritage.

Economic and Cultural Impact

Jeddah’s Cultural Positioning

The Islamic Arts Biennale has significantly enhanced Jeddah’s position as a cultural destination within Saudi Arabia’s evolving cultural landscape. While Riyadh hosts the contemporary art biennale and Noor Riyadh, and AlUla has Desert X and land art, the Islamic Arts Biennale gives Jeddah a distinctive cultural identity rooted in its historical role as the gateway to Mecca and its centuries-old trading connections with the broader Islamic world.

The biennale has attracted cultural tourists to Jeddah and generated interest in the city’s UNESCO-listed historic district (Al-Balad), its contemporary art galleries, and its broader cultural offerings. This cultural tourism complements Jeddah’s existing attractions as a Red Sea destination and business center.

Heritage Preservation and Awareness

The biennale has raised awareness of Islamic artistic heritage among Saudi and international audiences. By presenting masterpieces from international collections alongside contemporary responses, the exhibition has demonstrated the relevance and beauty of Islamic art to audiences who may have limited prior exposure. This awareness-raising function is particularly important in the context of endangered Islamic heritage sites in conflict zones across the Middle East and North Africa.

The biennale has also stimulated interest in the conservation and preservation of Islamic artistic heritage within Saudi Arabia, supporting the Ministry of Culture’s broader heritage preservation mandate. The visibility and prestige of the biennale create a context in which heritage preservation is valued and supported.

Global Significance

Unique Position

The Islamic Arts Biennale occupies a unique position in the global exhibition landscape. There is no comparable recurring exhibition dedicated to Islamic art — the major collections of Islamic art are held in permanent museum collections (Metropolitan Museum, Louvre, V&A, Museum of Islamic Art Doha), and temporary exhibitions tend to be single-institution projects rather than biennale-scale events.

This uniqueness gives the Islamic Arts Biennale both an opportunity and a responsibility. It has the potential to become the definitive recurring platform for Islamic art globally — a position of enormous cultural significance given that Islamic civilization encompasses 1.8 billion people across dozens of countries and has produced one of humanity’s richest artistic traditions.

Institutional Legacy

The long-term legacy of the Islamic Arts Biennale will depend on the Diriyah Biennale Foundation’s ability to build the exhibition into a permanent institution with growing collections, deepening scholarship, and sustained international partnerships. The first edition demonstrated that the ambition and resources exist. The challenge now is to build institutional depth, curatorial consistency, and scholarly reputation across multiple editions.

If successful, the Islamic Arts Biennale could become one of the most important cultural institutions in the Muslim world — a platform that celebrates Islamic artistic achievement, supports contemporary artists working within Islamic traditions, and presents the beauty and intellectual depth of Islamic civilization to global audiences. This is an ambition worthy of the tradition it seeks to honor. The biennale’s engagement with Saudi contemporary artists, emerging practitioners, the Saudi art market, and art tourism ensures its impact extends across the Kingdom’s entire cultural ecosystem.