Jeddah and the inaugural Islamic Arts Biennale
In March 2023, I was fortunate to be invited by my friend, film director Ovidio Salazar, to attend the inaugural Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Some of the installations at the biennale, and pieces of art in galleries I saw around the city, were breathtakingly beautiful.
The Muslim Quarter of Xi’an
Over the centuries, many Muslims travelled eastwards and ended up settling in Xi’an creating the Muslim Quarter. This area contains numerous eateries serving Central Asia food and is visited by both locals and tourists alike. It’s also home to China’s oldest mosque.
The mausoleum of Amir Timur in Samarkand
This mausoleum in Samarkand in Uzbekistan is known as Gur-e-Amir, Persian for "Tomb of the King". Inside is the final resting place of one of the greatest Mongol kings.
Whirling dervishes of Beyoğlu, Istanbul
A whirling dervish performance in one of Istanbul’s few remaining Sufi dervish houses.
Ayten Tiryaki, master calligrapher and illuminator of Istanbul
Through a contact at the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts, I had been put in touch with a calligraphy and illumination Hodja (master) living on the Asian side of the Bosporus.
The Hadži Kurt Mosque in Mostar
In the Hadži Kurt Mosque, I met Ilma, a young red-headed women with bright blue eyes. She told me about the history of this small Ottoman-era mosque.
Kashgar, ancient Silk Road trading hub
A selection of photographs from the ancient Silk Road trading hub in the westernmost corner of China’s Xinjiang Province known to the Uyghur community who live there as the Republic of East Turkestan.
Ceilings of Iran
Images of the spectacular ceilings that can be found in Iran and the mosques, mausolea, madrasahs and palaces they belong to.
Sufi mystics, Istanbul
On the outskirts of Istanbul lies one of the few remaining Sufi monasteries in Turkey. Here, the local community gather to watch a performance of ‘whirling dervishes’ - a practice which originated from the teachings of the 13th-century Persian poet, Islamic theologian and Sufi mystic, Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Balkhi-Rumi.
Qaytbay in Cairo’s City of the Dead
Photographs from around the Sultan of Qaytbay Mosque in Cairo’s City of the Dead.
Dervish mystics of historic Cairo
I was lucky enough to catch this performance in Wekalet el Ghouri arts centre on a visit to Cairo in October 2018. The Whirling Dervishes perform their dhikr in the form of a dance which involves whirling.
Pilgrimage to Djerba
The ancient El Ghriba Synagogue, is located on the Tunisian island of Djerba.
The synagogue is the ‘oldest in Tunisia, and besides being the centre of the island's Jewish life is also a site of pilgrimage, whose status approaches that of the Holy Land; one of the legends associated with its founding claims that either a stone or a door from Solomon's Temple or the Second Temple is incorporated in the building.’ (Wikipedia)