Two Decades of Art and Heritage: Celebrating 20 Years of the Jameel Gallery at the V&A

This July, the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in South Kensington reached a significant milestone, marking two decades since the grand opening of the Jameel Gallery. A cornerstone of the museum’s commitment to global artistic heritage, the gallery serves as the V&A’s primary home for the arts of the Islamic Middle East. Over the past twenty years, this space has evolved from a repository of historic artifacts into a vibrant center for research, public engagement, and contemporary creative dialogue. To commemorate this anniversary, the museum has spent the year hosting a series of new displays, live craft demonstrations, and scholarly conferences, all while looking toward the future of how these collections are understood and shared.

A Legacy of Islamic Art and Design

When the Jameel Gallery first opened its doors in July 2006, it signaled a transformative moment for the V&A’s curation of Middle Eastern art. Today, the gallery houses an expansive collection of approximately 400 objects spanning from the 8th century to the present day, with origins stretching from the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the vast reaches of Central Asia. The collection is a testament to the sophistication of Islamic craftsmanship, featuring an array of ceramics, intricately woven carpets, delicate metalwork, masterfully carved woodwork, glass, and illuminated manuscripts.

The gallery exists today thanks to the support of the Jameel family, a partnership that has blossomed into a long-standing relationship between the family and the museum. This collaboration further expanded in 2009 with the establishment of the Jameel Prize, an international award that highlights the profound dialogue between contemporary artistic practice and the rich, enduring influence of Islamic tradition. Supported by Community Jameel, the anniversary celebrations serve as a reflection on this journey, underscoring the gallery’s role as a bridge between the historical and the modern.

The Heart of the Anniversary: A Year of Living Craft

A central theme of the 20th-anniversary celebrations has been the concept of "living traditions." Rather than treating the artifacts as static remnants of the past, the museum has focused on bringing the history of making to the forefront, inviting practitioners to demonstrate the techniques that inspired the historic objects housed within the glass cases.

In May, the museum marked London Craft Week with a focus on the intricate art of khayamiyya, or Egyptian cotton appliqué. The V&A welcomed renowned textile artist Hany Abd El-Kader to perform a live demonstration. Introduced by Seif El Rashidi of the Barakat Trust, the event provided a sold-out audience with a rare insight into the patience and precision required to master this traditional craft. Beyond the talk, a select group of visitors participated in a hands-on workshop, gaining a tactile understanding of the skills that have sustained Egyptian textile art for centuries.

The celebration reached a thematic peak on July 17, exactly twenty years after the gallery’s inaugural opening. The museum hosted "The Islamic Art Museumscape," a significant conference that gathered experts to take the pulse of global museum practices. The discussion focused on how institutions manage, interpret, and display Islamic collections in the modern era, tracing the shifts in curatorial themes and trends over the two decades since the Jameel Gallery first welcomed the public. Later that month, the museum’s "Friday Late" series collaborated with the Shubbak Festival for an event titled "Body as a Vessel," which showcased a breadth of contemporary Arab and SWANA (South West Asian and North African) creativity.

The momentum continued into September during the London Design Festival. The gallery arches were transformed by a new installation by artist Aziza Kadyri, which served as a modern visual counterpoint to the historic architecture. Kadyri’s collaborator, the embroidery artist Yulduz Mukhiddinova, traveled from Uzbekistan to lead sessions on suzani embroidery. These workshops were paired with a performance by Uzbek singer-songwriter Laylo during the "Awakenings" Friday Late, allowing around 80 participants to learn the traditional stitches that have defined Central Asian textile history.

Twenty Years of Curatorial Evolution

Reflecting on the milestone, Mariam Rosser-Owen, Curator of the Middle East in the V&A’s Asia Department, highlighted the deep historical significance of the collection. She noted that the museum’s interest in Middle Eastern art dates back to its very founding in the 1850s, a period when such objects were acquired specifically to influence and improve British design standards. Over the subsequent century, these holdings grew to include world-famous treasures that played a pivotal role in shaping the aesthetic sensibilities of influential figures like William Morris.

The physical space of the gallery has undergone its own evolution. While the site has been dedicated to these collections since 1950, it required a major transformation by the time the V&A established a dedicated section for Middle Eastern specialists in 2002. The 2006 renovation, made possible by the Jameel family, provided the appropriate setting to showcase the depth of the collection. According to Rosser-Owen, the goal was always to allow these objects to "shine at their best," ensuring that the provenance and artistic integrity of the pieces remain central to the visitor experience.

Fady Jameel, Family Ambassador of Community Jameel and Chairman and Founder of Art Jameel, echoed these sentiments, noting that the gallery acts as an anchor for the family’s commitment to Islamic art. "Over the past 20 years, the gallery has become a platform for research, public engagement, and contemporary creative practice," he stated. He emphasized that the partnership with the V&A is not merely about preservation, but about ensuring that traditional arts continue to evolve and resonate with new audiences globally.

Icons of the Collection

For those visiting the gallery—whether for the first time or returning after a long hiatus—the V&A highlights five essential objects that define the scope of the collection. Chief among them is the Ardabil Carpet. Dating back to 1539–1540 and created for the shrine of Shaykh Safi al-Din in Ardabil, Iran, it remains the world’s oldest dated carpet. To protect its vibrant colors, the carpet is kept in a specialized, climate-controlled case and is illuminated for only ten minutes on the hour and half-hour, a ritual that adds a sense of reverence to the viewing experience.

Other highlights include the rock crystal ewer, carved in Cairo during the 11th century, which features intricate motifs of birds of prey and scrolls. The massive, towering minbar made for Sultan Qaitbay, also from Cairo and dating to the late 15th century, serves as a masterclass in geometric woodwork. Near the entrance, a 15th-century lustreware bowl from Málaga, Spain, captivates visitors with its shimmering glaze and depiction of a sailing ship. Finally, a new selection of 20th-century Iranian prints, donated in 2023 by Tarlan Rafiee and Yashar Samimi Mofakham, brings the collection into the modern era, featuring works by pioneers of the pre-revolutionary modern art movement, including Nasser Ovissi.

Looking Toward the Future

The celebrations are set to conclude with a focus on future engagement. In November 2026, as part of Islamic Art Week, artist Mariam Ashraf will lead a demonstration on the art of plaster carving. This technique, used to create decorative windows set with colored glass—much like the 19th-century examples from Cairo already on display—will be showcased in a live-streamed event, allowing the museum to reach an international audience.

Twenty years later, the Jameel Gallery continues to serve as a vital link between the past and the present. By bringing together extraordinary historical objects with the living voices of modern craft and art, the gallery remains a dynamic space of discovery. As it looks ahead, the V&A invites the public to explore these collections, which remain free for all to visit in Room 42 at the South Kensington site, where the conversation between tradition and innovation continues to unfold.