Word and Illumination 2.94

To celebrate the year of Al Madinah Al Munawwarah as the Capital of Islamic Culture 2013, Word and Illumination, a special world class exhibition in association with the British Museum will be held in Madinah from February 10 to April 15, 2014.

Calligraphy (WORD) and photography (ILLUMINATIION) are the two components to this groundbreaking exhibition. The first is a selection of Art works from the collection of contemporary works in the British Museums on Arabic calligraphy, augmented by loans of important art works from private collection in Saudi Arabia, the Gulf and the wider Islamic world. This effort is organized in co-operation between two leading galleries, Athr Gallery in Jeddah and Agial in Beirut.

In parallel with the "Word" component of the exhibition, the "Illumination" exhibition uses the first photographs ever taken in Madinah (The Sadeq Bey photographs from 1880A.D. and Mirza images from 1881A.D.) as part of a chronological photo essay up to 1920A.D. These photographs are taken from the collection of Darat Al Malik Abdul Aziz (King Abdul Aziz Foundation), The King Fahd Public Library and the archives of noted International bodies like the Royal Geographic Society and the Barakat Trust.

In addition to the historic photographs of Madinah, visitors will see interpretations of Madinah through the lens of renowned contemporary Saudi Artists The artists and photographers have undertaken works that are focused on Madinah and include unusual studies of Al Masjid Al Nabawi, people of Madinah, Madinah region archeology and landscape, as well as aerial photography of the region.

Come take a journey to Madinah as it reasserts itself, again, as centre of learning and culture that it maintained in its first two centuries when the prophet and his companions made it a beacon of piety and learning.