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| Source: Image by Marco Cappelletti, courtesy of the Diriyah Biennale Foundation. View of the outdoor exhibition spaces at the 2025 Islamic Arts Biennale. |
The 2nd Islamic Arts Biennale, titled And All That Is In Between, has opened in Jeddah.
The Islamic Arts Biennale is the world's only biennial exhibition dedicated to the arts of Islamic civilisation. The global project highlights the contemporary relevance of tradition through the presence of historical objects and new artistic commissions. By juxtaposing historical objects from Islamic cultures with contemporary art, the Biennale explores how faith is experienced, expressed, and celebrated through feeling, thinking, and making.
The 2025 edition of the Biennale brings together loans from over 30 of the world's leading institutions, including the Vatican Apostolic Library (Vatican City), 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).
Additionally, the Biennale has partnered with institutions from across KSA, offering visitors a chance to see objects and works of art from Makkah and Madinah.
The show spans five exhibition halls and outdoor areas with 100,000 sq m of exhibition space, and Opresents more than 500 objects in dialogue with contemporary artworks. Over 30 artists from KSA, the wider Gulf region, and around the world are represented. Of note is the first-ever display of the entire kiswah—the cloth that covers the Ka'aba (كسوة الكعبة)—outside of Makkah.
Details
The Islamic Arts Biennale takes place in Jeddah at the Western Hajj Terminal of King Abdulaziz International Airport. The exhibition ends May 25, 2025.