Ithra's second Islamic Art Conference will encourage new ways of designing mosques

The conference at the King Abdulaziz Centre for World Culture will run between November 25 and 30

Running between November 25 and 30, the Islamic Art Conference will be held at Ithra in partnership with the Abdul Latif Alfozan Award for Mosque Architecture. Photo: Ithra Studios

In its inaugural year, the 2021 Islamic Art Conference at the King Abdulaziz Centre for World Culture (Ithra) explored how the history of mosques could be best understood by their art. In its second iteration, the conference will be instead looking ahead.

The event is still a celebration of the history of Islamic arts and crafts. However, it will have a new underlying aim – to encourage novel mosque designs and inspire new ways of thinking about Islamic art.

Running between November 25 and 30, the event will be held in partnership with the Abdul Latif Alfozan Award for Mosque Architecture. The event is set to take place under the title – In Praise of the Artisan: A Reassessment of Contemporary Islamic Arts & Crafts Practice. It will feature panel discussions, workshops, lectures, exhibitions, film screenings and demonstrations by craftspeople.

The first iteration of the conference was held in November 2021. The event was held under the title The Mosque: Innovation in Object, Form and Function.

The conference will explore the heritage of Islamic arts and crafts, while identifying emerging trends from across the Arab world. The programme will also highlight the initiatives and institutions that are working to preserve traditional crafts through training and employment, aiming to bolster efforts to help artisans access new markets or adapt to global challenges.

These discussions will hopefully inspire creatives to consider new approaches to designing and building mosques, Mashary Al Naim, secretary-general of the Abdul Latif Alfozan Award for Mosque Architecture, said.

“This conference and exhibition support our ongoing efforts to unearth new ideas from around the world for designing mosques and encouraging innovative planning, design and technical ideas that can form a new identity for Islamic art,” Al Naim said. “Islamic art no longer discusses works of art and architecture as tangible creations, but rather looks at them in the context of work, crafts and daily practices.”

The exhibition accompanying the conference will be further exploring this concept. In Praise of the Artisan will be inaugurated at Ithra on the first day of the conference and remain open after the event concludes.

The show is organised in collaboration with the al-Sabah Collection at Kuwait’s Dar al-Athar Al Islamiyyah. Highlights include a hand-carved stone screen from the 17th century that is reported to be the largest to be built after the Taj Mahal. The exhibition will also include eight commissioned pieces, as well as contemporary pieces by master craftspeople from across the Arab world, as well as India, Spain, Uzbekistan, Malaysia and Turkey.

“The Islamic Art Conference is a global platform for shining the light on Islamic arts and crafts, in line with Ithra’s mission to celebrate cultural heritage, enable talent development and support creative expression, all powered by partnerships with renowned institutions,” Abdullah Al-Rashid, director of Ithra, said.

“The synergies of conducting both events in parallel will provide a uniquely interactive and immersive experience designed to educate visitors about Islamic handicrafts and artisans from the Middle East and beyond.”