Islamic Arts Biennale 2025: And all that is in between

The Diriyah Biennale Foundation announces And all that is in between as the title for the second edition of the Islamic Arts Biennale. The Biennale is set to open from January 25 until May 25, 2025 in Jeddah, a city that has represented a meeting point of cultures for centuries, at the Western Hajj Terminal of King Abdulaziz International Airport, a site that echoes with memory and emotion for millions of Muslim pilgrims embarking on their sacred journeys for Hajj and Umrah every year. By juxtaposing historical objects from Islamic cultures with contemporary art, the Biennale will explore how faith is experienced, expressed, and celebrated through feeling, thinking, and making.

Led by Artistic Directors Julian Raby, Amin Jaffer in his ongoing role as Director of The Al Thani Collection, and Abdul Rahman Azzam alongside Saudi artist Muhannad Shono as Curator of Contemporary Art, the Biennale will offer unique insights into the ways cultures endure in the context of the transformations taking place today in Saudi Arabia with a global frame of reference. The exhibition presents a dialogue between historic and contemporary works within the galleries and in outdoor spaces. The Biennale’s location at the Western Hajj Terminal strengthens its connection to Islamic heritage and faith. 

And all that is in between is part of a verse that appears several times in the Quran: “And God created the Heavens and the Earth and all that is in between.” It describes the absolute and all-encompassing majesty of God’s creation as perceived and experienced by humankind. Across five exhibition halls and outdoor spaces, and with more than 500 objects and contemporary artworks on view, the 2025 Islamic Arts Biennale will explore how we endeavor to comprehend the wonder of what the divine has brought into being.

In its second edition, the Biennale presents significantly more works and welcomes a larger number of participating institutions. With this expansion, the Biennale affirms its position as the world’s central platform for Islamic arts. The exhibition will bring together loans from the world’s leading institutions of Islamic arts, from Tunis to Tashkent, and from Timbuktu to Yogyakarta. The participation of this global network of institutions offers a broad perspective on Islamic arts, past and present, and opens new channels for dialogue and collaboration. Treasured historical artifacts, religious objects, and works of art have been loaned from major institutions including the Louvre Museum (Paris) and the Victoria and Albert Museum (London), as well as collections devoted specifically to Islamic arts and cultures, such as the Ahmed Baba Institute of Higher Learning and Islamic Research (Timbuktu), the Museum of Islamic Art (Doha), and the the Manuscript Institution of Türkiye (Istanbul). The Biennale brings together leading institutions from across Saudi Arabia, including the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) (Dhahran), the King Abdulaziz Complex for Endowment Libraries (Madinah), and the King Fahad National Library (Riyadh), and also offers visitors a chance to see objects and works of art that come from the holy sites of Makkah and Madinah.

The Biennale presents new commissions from over 20 artists from Saudi Arabia, the wider Gulf region, and beyond, including Nour Jaouda, Charwei Tsai, and Fatmah Abdulhadi. These commissions demonstrate the Diriyah Biennale Foundation’s work to offer a global stage for Saudi artists, and to bring artists from around the world to Saudi Arabia so that local audiences can encounter compelling practices and diverse perspectives in contemporary art. 

The Islamic Arts Biennale will consist of seven unique components (AlBidaya, AlMadar, AlMuqtani, AlMathala, AlMukarramah, AlMunawwarah, and AlMusalla) spread out through different galleries and outdoor spaces, across 100,000 square meters of dedicated exhibition space. For more information on the content of the individual galleries please visit the Diriyah Biennale Foundation website.

List of participating institutions*
The David Collection (Copenhagen, Denmark); the Museum of Islamic Art (Cairo, Egypt); The Al Thani Collection (Paris, France); the Louvre Museum (Paris, France); the Benaki Museum (Athens, Greece); National Library of Indonesia (Jakarta, Indonesia); the State Museum of West Nusa Tenggara (Mataram, Indonesia); Sonobudoyo State Museum (Yogyakarta, Indonesia); the Bruschettini Foundation for Islamic and Asian Art (Genoa, Italy); Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah, al-Sabah Collection (Kuwait City, Kuwait); the Ahmed Baba Institute of Higher Learning and Islamic Research (Timbuktu, Mali); the National Museum - Sultanate of Oman (Muscat, Oman); the Khalidi Library (Jerusalem, Palestine); Calouste Gulbenkian Museum (Lisbon, Portugal); the Maritime Museum (Lisbon, Portugal); the Museum of Islamic Art (Doha, Qatar); the Qatar National Library (Doha, Qatar); the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) (Dhahran, Saudi Arabia); the King Abdulaziz Complex for Endowment Libraries (Madinah, Saudi Arabia); King Fahad National Library (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia); the Trust for the Alhambra and Generalife, Alhambra Museum (Granada, Spain); Institute of Valencia de Don Juan (Madrid, Spain); the National Archeological Museum (Madrid, Spain); National Heritage Institute (Tunis, Tunisia); the Manuscript Institution of Türkiye (Istanbul, Türkiye); the King’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts (London, United Kingdom); the Victoria and Albert Museum (London, United Kingdom); the Bodleian Libraries (Oxford, United Kingdom); the History of Science Museum, University of Oxford (Oxford, United Kingdom); the Hispanic Society Museum and Library (New York, United States); the Abu Rayhan Biruni Institute of Oriental Studies and the Muslim Board of Uzbekistan, of the Art and Culture Development Foundation Uzbekistan (Tashkent, Uzbekistan); and the Vatican Apostolic Library (Vatican City).

*As of September 25, subject to change.

List of participating artists*
Fatma Abdulhadi, Ahmad Angawi, Saeed Gebaan, Louis Guillaume, Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, Hylozoic/Desires (Himali Singh Soin & David Soin Tappeser), Nour Jaouda, Tamara Kalo, Asif Khan, Takashi Kuribayashi, Ahmed Mater, Mehdi Moutashar, Timo Nasseri, Hayat Osama, Nohemi Pérez, Imran Qureshi, Arcangelo Sassolino, and Charwei Tsai.

*As of September 25, subject to change.

About the Diriyah Biennale Foundation
Inspired by the changes taking place in Saudi Arabia and the heritage site of Diriyah, and Chaired by H.H. Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan Al Saud, the Diriyah Biennale Foundation (DBF) assumes a critical role in nurturing creative expression and instilling an appreciation for culture and the arts and their transformative potential. The Foundation aspires to be a catalyst for lifelong learning and serves Saudi Arabia’s communities by offering opportunities to engage with the burgeoning local art scene. Central to the Foundation’s mandate is to stage two recurring world-class Biennales of contemporary and Islamic arts, year-round interactive educational programs, and overseeing the activation of JAX, a creative district with industrial heritage in Diriyah. At this historical moment of evolution and growth in Saudi Arabia, DBF’s Biennales showcase some of the world’s leading artists, drive cultural exchange between the Kingdom and international communities, promote dialogue and understanding, and further establish Saudi Arabia as an important cultural center.

Press inquiries: mediaqueries [​at​] biennale.org.sa