The V&A houses one of the world's great collections of Islamic art from the Middle East. We began to collect art from the Islamic world in the 1850s, and were the first institution in the world to do so with a purpose. This can be seen at its best in the splendid Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art.
The past achievements of the Islamic world in art, craft and design are reflected in the work of many contemporary practitioners.
The Jameel Prize was established by the V&A in 2009 and is run in partnership with Art Jameel. There have been six editions since the Prize began.
The Jameel Prize is open to artists and designers from any ethnic, religious or cultural background.
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Jameel Prize: Moving Images
The seventh edition of the Jameel Prize is devoted to moving image and digital media work, inspired by Islamic art, culture, history, society, and ideas.
Finalists:
Sadik Kwaish Alfraji
Jawa El Khash
Alia Farid
Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh & Hesam Rahmanian
Zahra Malkani
Khandakar Ohida
Marrim Akashi Sani
The work of the seven artists will be displayed in an exhibition at the V&A, London, entitled Jameel Prize: Moving Images, 30 November 2024 – 16 March 2025.
Our finalists’ diverse practices span film and photography, animation, installation, sound, sculpture, and virtual reality. In a series of intimate, immersive encounters, the exhibition reflects the ways artists use moving image and digital technologies to pose questions around identity, history, and community.
Sadik Kwaish Alfraji's practice draws upon personal and collective memory. His animations, including A Thread of Light Between My Mother's Fingers and Heaven (2023), and A Short Story in the Eyes of Hope (2023), poetically document the lives of his parents.
Jawa El Khash's virtual reality work The Upper Side of the Sky (2019) resurrects Syrian archaeology and ecology that has been endangered or destroyed during the ongoing civil war.
Alia Farid's works – including Chibayish (2022 and 2023) – examine tensions over resources created by colonial borders in the Arabian Gulf, focussing on the impact upon everyday people and cultures.
Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh and Hesam Rahmanian's 'fluid painting', If I had two paths, I would choose a third (2020), explores the toppling of statues and acts of iconoclasm, particularly in Iran and Iraq.
Zahra Malkani's work A Ubiquitous Wetness (2023) explores how mystical and devotional practices in Pakistan intersect musical and oral traditions in the particular context of water.
Khandakar Ohida's film Dream Your Museum (2022) is a portrait of her uncle, Khandakar Selim, who has built an extraordinary collection of objects and memorabilia over the last 50 years in India.
Marrim Akashi Sani's Muharram (2023) photo series captures practices around the commemoration of Muharram, a sacred month in Islam, exploring the ways Muslim communities have retained and evolved their faith in the American Midwest.
Our finalists were selected by an international jury from over 300 applicants, following an open call. The jury is comprised of artists Ajlan Gharem (winner of the sixth Jameel Prize), and Morehshin Allahyari, curator Sadia Shirazi, academic Laura U. Marks, and chaired by V&A Director Tristram Hunt. At the opening of the exhibition in November 2024, the jury will announce a single winner of the £25,000 prize. After its run at the V&A in London, the exhibition will go on tour.
Jameel Prize: Poetry to Politics
The sixth edition of the Jameel Prize was devoted to contemporary design inspired by Islamic tradition. Jameel Prize: Poetry to Politics showcased the work of eight designers from India, Iran, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the UK. Ajlan Gharem was named the winner for his installation work, Paradise Has Many Gates.
Jameel Prize 5
The artist Mehdi Moutashar and the architect Marina Tabassum were announced as joint winners of the £25,000 Jameel Prize 5. This is the first time the prize has been awarded to two finalists. Mehdi received the award for his four bold works of minimalist abstraction rooted in Islamic geometry, and Marina for her visionary Bait ur Rouf mosque built in 2012 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Jameel Prize 4
Ghulam Mohammad was announced as the winner of Jameel Prize 4 for his five works of paper collage, four Untitled and one with the title Gunjaan (2014) on 7 June 2016. Ayşe and Ece Ege, founders of Turkish fashion label Dice Kayek and winners of Jameel Prize 3, presented Ghulam Mohammad with the Prize at a ceremony at the Pera Museum, Istanbul. The judges felt that Ghulam Mohammad’s work stood out for its excellence of concept and execution.
Jameel Prize 3
Dice Kayek were announced as the winners of Jameel Prize 3 for Istanbul Contrast, a collection of garments that evoked Istanbul’s architectural and artistic heritage. The judges felt that Dice Kayek's work demonstrated how vibrant and creative Islamic traditions continue to be today.
Jameel Prize 2011
Rachid Koraïchi was announced as the winner of the Jameel Prize 2011 for a selection of embroidered cloth banners from a series entitled Les Maitres invisibles. The Judges felt that Rachid's work matches the aims of the Jameel Prize through its qualities of design and reliance on traditional craft.
Jameel Prize 2009
Afruz Amighi was announced as the winner of the Jameel Prize 2009 for 1001 Pages from a series of shadowpieces. Amighi uses light and shadow to create complex and engaging designs using a stencil burner to hand-cut the design from a thin, porous sheet of plastic – a material used in the construction of refugee tents.
In partnership with Art Jameel
