Cathy's Art Diary

Interesting exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum showcasing the finalists in this award for contemporary art and design inspired by Islamic culture, history, society and ideas. This year’s edition was devoted to moving images and digital media. I thought this limited the scope of the award and made the display a bit samey consisting mainly of videos. My favourite was the winner Khandakar Ohida's video “Dream Your Museum” about their uncle, Khandakar Selim, and his collection of more than 12,000 objects amassed over the past 50 years. The video was shown in an installation with some of the objects. It makes you look at the objects around you at home. I liked Marrim Akashi Sani’s bright photos of her Detroit community during the Islamic holy month of Muharram capturing domestic interiors. I found Sadik Kwaish Alfraji’s layered animations about her parents moving shown with drawings of her mother’s hand based on   family photographs. Closed 16 March 2025 Review ...

Interesting online lecture from the Victoria and Albert Museum introducing this year’s exhibition for the Jameel Prize for contemporary art referencing or influenced by the Islamic world. The curator of the show, Rachel Dedman, gave a short outline of the prize and how it has developed over the last 15 years. She also talked about how she puts together the show and how the winner is picked by a panel of judges once the finalists are installed in the exhibition. She then led us through this years seven finalists. I have since seen the show and it was rally useful to have heard this overview. There were nuances which I missed in the show. She talked about the two themes which emerged as she worked with artists, conservation and the loss of history and ecology and spirituality.  

Interesting exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum for this triennial award for contemporary art inspired by the Islamic tradition. I have been to previous shows for this prize and they always throw up new ideas. This time the show included the work of eight artists and designers. The winner, Ajlan Gharem, had a mosque made to chicken wire, the material used for border fences and refugee detention centres. so that the interior was visible. There was a section of it in the show and a video of it in use in a desert. The idea was to demystify Islamic prayer for non-Muslims. Fashion designer, Kollol Datta, draws on the traditional clothing from around the world to make connections between communities and looks at how dress has been used to control women. Also on the theme of clothing, Bushra Waqas Khan, makes miniature dresses, like the one shown here, made of affidavit paper used for official document which often carry national motifs. The nod to Victorian fashion hints at co...

Interesting exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum for a biennial prize for contemporary design inspired by Islamic tradition.   The show focused on the eight finalists covering fashion design, painting, architecture and more. I liked Naqsh Collective’s work drawing on the embroidery of shawl’s in Jordon and laser cutting the patterns into wood with brass inlay. My favourite was the painter Hayv Kahraman who is shown here. She studied in Florence and combines this practice with ideas from 13th century Mughal manuscripts to highlight the life of modern women.   Closes on 25 November 2018

Interesting exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum for this award for contemporary design inspired by Islamic tradition. The exhibition showed the work of the ten finalists and included a carpet designer, a fashion label and recycled products. I really liked the fashion label Dice Kayek which had won the prize and had produced dresses based on the architecture of Istanbul including a white organdy dressed on St Sophia. I also liked the floor tiles made of spices which had a permanent look but a temporary fragile substance. Review Guardian