{"id":3035,"date":"2026-10-17T06:00:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T06:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orientalplaces.com\/?p=3035"},"modified":"2026-10-17T06:00:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T06:00:13","slug":"two-decades-of-art-and-heritage-celebrating-20-years-of-the-jameel-gallery-at-the-va-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orientalplaces.com\/?p=3035","title":{"rendered":"Two Decades of Art and Heritage: Celebrating 20 Years of The Jameel Gallery at the V&A"},"content":{"rendered":"

This July, the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in South Kensington reached a significant cultural milestone, marking two decades since the inauguration of The Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art. Since opening its doors in 2006, the gallery has served as a cornerstone of the museum\u2019s mission to celebrate the rich, diverse, and enduring artistic traditions of the Islamic world. To commemorate this twentieth anniversary, the museum has spent the past year curating a series of new displays, public programmes, and academic conferences, reflecting not only on the gallery\u2019s legacy but also on its evolving role in the contemporary global art landscape.<\/p>\n

The Jameel Gallery stands as a testament to a deep-rooted commitment to preserving the history of the Islamic Middle East. Today, the space houses approximately 400 extraordinary objects, spanning a vast geographical reach from the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the far reaches of Central Asia in the east. The collection is chronologically expansive, covering artistic production from the 8th century to the present day. Visitors to the gallery encounter a diverse array of media\u2014ceramics, intricate carpets, masterful metalwork, ornate woodwork, glass, and delicate manuscripts\u2014all curated to illustrate the sophistication and continuity of Islamic craftsmanship. True to the V&A\u2019s founding principles, the gallery remains a free, public space, ensuring that this world-class collection remains accessible to all.<\/p>\n

The establishment of the gallery was made possible through the generous support of the Jameel family, a partnership that has blossomed into a long-standing collaboration between the family and the museum. This relationship reached a new level of prominence in 2009 with the introduction of the Jameel Prize, an international award dedicated to exploring the intersection of contemporary creative practice and traditional Islamic aesthetics. Throughout this anniversary year, with the ongoing support of Community Jameel, the museum has sought to highlight this connection, hosting events that bridge the gap between historical artifacts and the vibrant, living traditions they continue to inspire.<\/p>\n

\"Celebrating<\/figure>\n

A Year of Reflection and Celebration<\/h3>\n

Central to the 20th-anniversary celebrations has been the theme of "making." Rather than treating the objects as static relics of the past, the V&A has invited practitioners to demonstrate the techniques that define these traditions. In May, as part of London Craft Week, the gallery hosted Egyptian textile artist Hany Abd El-Kader for a series of events focused on khayamiyya<\/em>, the traditional art of cotton appliqu\u00e9. The programme, introduced by Seif El Rashidi of the Barakat Trust, included a sold-out talk and a hands-on workshop, providing a small group of participants the rare opportunity to learn the intricacies of this craft directly from a master.<\/p>\n

The anniversary reached a symbolic peak on 17 July\u2014the exact date of the gallery\u2019s opening two decades ago. To mark the occasion, the museum convened a major conference titled The Islamic Art Museumscape<\/em>. The event provided a platform for scholars and curators to take the pulse of how institutions worldwide manage and interpret Islamic collections in the modern era. Discussions focused on how themes, exhibition trends, and global perceptions of Islamic art have shifted since 2006. This academic reflection was followed later that month by a Friday Late<\/em> event in collaboration with Shubbak, titled Body as a Vessel<\/em>, which focused on celebrating contemporary creativity from the Arab world and the wider SWANA (South West Asian and North African) region.<\/p>\n

The momentum continued into September, coinciding with the London Design Festival. The gallery unveiled a new installation by artist Aziza Kadyri, which wove through the existing architectural arches, offering a contemporary dialogue with the space. The installation was accompanied by the work of Uzbek embroidery artist Yulduz Mukhiddinova, who travelled from Uzbekistan to conduct workshops on traditional suzani<\/em> embroidery. During the Awakenings<\/em> Friday Late, accompanied by a performance from Uzbek singer-songwriter Laylo, approximately 80 participants learned the traditional stitch, further cementing the gallery\u2019s role as a site of active learning and cultural exchange.<\/p>\n

\"Celebrating<\/figure>\n

Two Decades of Curatorial Evolution<\/h3>\n

Mariam Rosser-Owen, Curator for the Middle East in the V&A\u2019s Asia Department, notes that the success of the gallery is built upon a foundation that dates back to the museum\u2019s own origins. "As curators of Middle Eastern art, we are so fortunate to be able to work with one of the best collections of Islamic art in the world," Rosser-Owen explains. "Collecting of Middle Eastern art began in the 1850s, when the museum was founded, with the express aim of improving British design. Over the next century, the V&A\u2019s holdings grew to encompass outstanding and world-famous objects that went on to inspire some of Britain\u2019s greatest artists and designers, including William Morris."<\/p>\n

The institutional history of the space is equally significant. While a dedicated space for Islamic art was established in 1950 and subsequently refreshed in the 1970s, the formation of a specialized Middle East curatorial section in 2002 paved the way for the major transformation that occurred in 2006. "Thanks to the generosity of the Jameel family, the renovation of the gallery allowed the V&A\u2019s world-class collections to shine at their best in an appropriately attractive setting," Rosser-Owen adds.<\/p>\n

Fady Jameel, Family Ambassador of Community Jameel and Chairman and Founder of Art Jameel, emphasizes that the gallery serves as an anchor for the family\u2019s broader mission. "The Jameel Gallery at the V&A anchors the Jameel family\u2019s long-standing commitment to supporting and celebrating Islamic art," he says. "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\u2019s partnership with the V&A, and Community Jameel\u2019s 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."<\/p>\n

\"Celebrating<\/figure>\n

Essential Highlights of the Collection<\/h3>\n

For those visiting the gallery to mark this milestone, there are several key pieces that illustrate the breadth and depth of the collection. Foremost among these is the Ardabil Carpet, a masterpiece created in 1539\u20131540 for the shrine of Shaykh Safi al-Din in Ardabil, Iran. Recognized as the world\u2019s oldest dated carpet, it remains a focal point of the gallery, displayed in a custom-built case that allows visitors to view it as it was intended\u2014on the floor. Due to its sensitivity to light, the carpet is illuminated for ten minutes on the hour and half-hour, a practice that highlights the ongoing conservation efforts required to preserve such treasures.<\/p>\n

Other notable objects include a 10th or 11th-century rock crystal ewer from Cairo, crafted for the Fatimid treasuries, which features exquisite carvings of birds of prey and palmette scrolls. The gallery also houses a monumental 15th-century minbar, a pulpit made for Sultan Qaitbay, which showcases the geometric complexity possible through the assemblage of hundreds of individual pieces of wood and ivory. At the entrance, visitors are greeted by a 15th-century lustreware bowl from M\u00e1laga, Spain, which demonstrates the shimmering, iridescent glaze techniques that defined the period. Finally, the gallery\u2019s recent acquisitions, including a collection of 20th-century Iranian prints donated by Tarlan Rafiee and Yashar Samimi Mofakham in 2023, reflect the gallery\u2019s continued commitment to acquiring and displaying works from the modern era, including the influential Saqqakhaneh movement.<\/p>\n

Looking toward the future, the gallery remains a site of continuous discovery. In November 2026, as part of Islamic Art Week, the museum will host a live-streamed demonstration by artist Mariam Ashraf, who will showcase the complex art of plaster carving\u2014the technique historically used to create decorative windows set with coloured glass, similar to the 19th-century examples from Cairo currently on display.<\/p>\n

\"Celebrating<\/figure>\n

Twenty years on, The Jameel Gallery stands not merely as a repository of historical artifacts, but as a living environment that reveals the profound connections between the past and the present. By bringing together extraordinary objects, the expertise of master crafters, and the voices of new artists, the V&A ensures that this vital chapter of global history remains an active, evolving part of the cultural conversation. The gallery is located in Room 42 at the V&A South Kensington and is open to the public daily with free admission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This July, the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in South Kensington reached a significant cultural milestone, marking two decades since the inauguration of The Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art. Since opening its doors in 2006, the gallery has served as a cornerstone of the museum\u2019s mission to celebrate the rich, diverse, and enduring artistic traditions […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3034,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[262],"tags":[274,1448,275,1894,805,126,3926,276,18],"class_list":["post-3035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asian-art-and-culture","tag-asian-art","tag-celebrating","tag-culture","tag-decades","tag-gallery","tag-heritage","tag-jameel","tag-philosophy","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orientalplaces.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orientalplaces.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orientalplaces.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orientalplaces.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orientalplaces.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/orientalplaces.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orientalplaces.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orientalplaces.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orientalplaces.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orientalplaces.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}