Awwal Bait - Islamic Arts Biennale

The Diriyah Biennale Foundation has opened its first edition of the Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah. The museography elaborated by Sumayya Vally and the Counterspace agency aims to bring out a discourse revealing the richness and depth of Islamic Arts through time and space (movement, links, rituals…). Alongside OMA, designers of the scenography, and The Space Factory, we are highlighting the different works presented in the galleries and under the canopy. The galleries present the works along a path that leads the visitor from darkness to light (the concept of the Qiblah), where the boundaries become blurred in the darkness. The ceilings disappear into their immensity, the luminous path relies as much on the luminosity of the video-projected works as on the artificial lighting, with brushes of light located on the works or which stain the large curtain. Under the terminal’s awning, a desert landscape unfolds, evoking the journey of the Hijrah (the Prophet Mohamed’s journey from Mecca to Medina). The lighting accompanies this unifying place with indirect light from the canopy, supplemented by occasional lighting according to the works exhibited.