LONDON: On Sunday, London’s Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), Community Jameel, and Art Jameel marked the 20th anniversary of The Jameel Gallery, celebrating a space that has transformed the presentation, interpretation, and public understanding of Islamic art.
The occasion was marked with a special reception hosted at the V&A, attended by Saudi Arabia’s Prince Turki Al-Faisal, Prince Abdullah bin Khalid bin Sultan, the Saudi ambassador to the United Kingdom and Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel, founder of Community Jameel, as well as Fady Jameel, Hassan Jameel, Hisham Hamza, and Ghada Alsammanoudi.
At the reception, it was unveiled that the celebration had been designated as the inaugural event in the official lead-up to the 2029 UK-Saudi Year of Culture.
“As ambassador to Her Majesty the great late Queen Elizabeth II, at which time His Royal Highness the then-Prince of Wales named me chairman of the board of trustees of The Prince’s School of Traditional Arts — a privilege and honor that I consider the highest of my ambassadorship. 20 years ago, my friend Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel invited me to attend the inauguration of The Jameel Gallery. Mr Jameel has formed his own endeavours, with many positive developments having occurred since. Now, under His Majesty King Charles’ stewardship, the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom is flourishing, with His Majesty serving as the principal link between the two countries,” Prince Turki Al-Faisal said in a released statement.
Fady Jameel, family ambassador of Community Jameel and chairman and founder of Art Jameel, added: “The Jameel Gallery at the V&A anchors the Jameel family’s long-standing commitment to supporting and celebrating Islamic art. Over the past 20 years, the Gallery has become a platform for research, public engagement, and contemporary creative practice, showing how historic artistic traditions continue to evolve. Through my family’s partnership with the V&A, and Community Jameel’s wider work supporting traditional arts and craftsmanship, we remain committed to fostering partnerships that preserve these traditions, while ensuring they continue to reach new audiences.”
The gallery was opened in July 2006 following a major refurbishment supported by the Jameel family. The collection on show includes more than 400 objects spanning ceramics, textiles, carpets, metalwork, woodwork, glass, and manuscripts, including the Ardabil Carpet, the Minbar of Sultan Qaytbay, and a Fatimid rock crystal ewer.
During the refurbishment phase, the Jameel family supported an international touring exhibition of highlights of the collection. Between 2004 and 2006, the exhibition “Palace and Mosque: Islamic Art from the Victoria and Albert Museum” travelled to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC; Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas; Setagaya Art Museum in Tokyo, Japan; and the Millennium Galleries in Sheffield, England.
The Jameel Gallery has also played host to temporary displays and exhibitions. Recent highlights include “Tatreez: Palestinian Embroidery,” which brings together historic Palestinian dress from the V&A collection with contemporary works by Aya Haidar and Zeid Hijazi.
Another facet of the collaboration between the Jameel family and the V&A is the Jameel Prize, established in 2009 by the V&A as an international award for contemporary art and design inspired by Islamic culture, history, society, and ideas, organized in partnership with Art Jameel.
Since its inception, the Jameel Prize has exhibited the work of 63 artists and designers from all over the world, and toured to 22 venues globally.
Later this year, as part of the London Design Festival, Uzbek artist Aziza Kadyri will unveil a new site-specific commission for The Jameel Gallery, drawing on rarely displayed embroidered works from the V&A collection.
