A Curator’s Cut of Jeddah’s 2025 Islamic Art Biennale

In its inaugural 2023 edition, Jeddah’s Islamic Art Biennale immediately cemented its position as one of the foremost platforms for the arts of Islamic civilization, both past and present. Returning to the Western Hajj Terminal of King Abdulaziz International Airport from January 25th to May 25th, the four month event sees the juxtaposition of historical objects from Islamic antiquity against contemporary art, including over 20 new commissions by artists from Saudi Arabia, the wider Gulf region and beyond, such as Nour Jaouda, Charwei Tsa, and Fatma Abdulhadi.

The 2025 edition of the Islamic Art Biennale, held under the title ‘And all that is in between’, will explore how faith is experienced, expressed and celebrated through feeling, thinking and making, with contributions from over 30 major international institutions including the Louvre Museum in Paris and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

The collection of over 500 objects spread across five exhibition halls and outdoor spaces also draws from historical artifacts, religious objects, and works of art from across Saudi Arabia, including the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) in Dhahran, the King Abdulaziz Complex for Endowment Libraries in Madinah, and the King Fahad National Library in Riyadh.

“This event combines a lot of what I am most experienced in, whilst at the same time being a big learning experience,” William Robinson, participating curator for the 2025 Islamic Art Biennale, tells SceneNowSaudi. “The level of detail that goes into something of this scale is so much greater than anything I have worked on thus far in my 40 years of experience in the field.”

Robinson, who was formerly International Head of World & Islamic Art at Christie’s, is a curator of the AlMuqtani section of the Biennale. The largest of the exhibition spaces, AlMuqtani displays works of Islamic art from two collections - those assembled by Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al Thani and Rifaat Sheikh El Ard.

“Working with these collections at the Biennale, we have both the space and the budget to really play with the design,” explains Robinson. “How do you divide up that space? Do you add walls? What shape are the walls? Do you have cases? 
Are they freestanding? Are they set into walls? Or are they against the walls? From playing with mock-ups and programs to working with architects, the smallest and largest details are all equally as important.”The two collections celebrated this year in the AlMuqtani area both reflect the section’s emphasis on tangible beauty, presenting high points of creativity and craft from Islamic cultures around the world.

The Al Thani collection is characterised by a taste for precious materials and virtuosic artistry, particularly focussing on jewelled objects. Meanwhile the El Ard collection is renowned for metalwork, especially those associated with chivalric culture across Islamic civilisations.

“The challenge of working with two collections in one space is how one should balance them,” says Robinson. “Both are extraordinary and have the potential to complement one another immensely.”

As befits Robinson's expertise, the AlMuqtani section is concerned exclusively with the classical era of Islamic art, though every other section which surrounds it is comprised of contrasting contemporary and classical pieces arranged to encourage a dialogue on unique insights into the ways cultures endure, in the context of the transformations taking place today in Saudi Arabia within a global frame of reference.The time frame for the event’s curation is also a key factor in its ability to delve so deeply into its theme.

“A two year time frame enables you to discuss the finest details of curation,” Robinson explains. “The whole process becomes so much more complex when you and the collections are given the opportunity to pause for a moment.”With the entire Biennale spread over more than 100,000 square metres of dedicated exhibition space, room is made for loaned items from the world’s leading institutions of Islamic arts, from Tunis to Tashkent, and from Timbuktu to Yogyakarta. And even for a figure as experienced as Robinson, the appreciation of the new - and of learning from it - never fades.“I have been travelling to Saudi Arabia regularly - but infrequently - since the early nineties,” says Robinson. “When I returned for the 2023 Biennale I found a very different Saudi Arabia from the one I’d last visited. It’s a different dynamic. There’s a feeling of positivity, excitement, and youth - especially for an oldie like me!”