Jeddah’s Islamic Arts Biennale Shows Off a New Saudi Arabia
The lavishly mounted exhibition brings art to the people, especially pilgrims traveling to the faith’s birthplace.
Illustration: Amy Moss for Bloomberg
The centerpiece of the Islamic Arts Biennale, which opened in Jeddah last week, is as unusual in its conception as in its location. Step into one of the dozens of towering canopies in the Western Hajj Terminal of Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz Airport, and look up: Suspended from the ceiling is one of Islam’s most sacred symbols, the drapery that once adorned the Kaaba in Mecca.
Known as the Kiswah, it is made of black silk and embroidered with passages from the Koran in gold thread. For centuries, the Kaaba — the cube-shaped building that draws the faithful from all over the world — has been sheathed with a new Kiswah every year during the Hajj pilgrimage. The old one is usually put away in a warehouse; sometimes, it is divided into sections for the Saudi government to give as gifts.