0:00:04 > 0:00:06A collection of artefacts from the Muslim world
0:00:06 > 0:00:10is about to be put on show at the British Museum.
0:00:11 > 0:00:13They tell the story of the Hajj,
0:00:13 > 0:00:17the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, strictly forbidden to non-Muslims.
0:00:18 > 0:00:23Much of the beautiful artwork on show conforms to the religious rules
0:00:23 > 0:00:26which inspire the rich visual language of Islamic culture,
0:00:26 > 0:00:28past and present.
0:00:29 > 0:00:34I can only pray, Inshallah, that this exhibition will be a source
0:00:34 > 0:00:39of education, of understanding and of delight.
0:00:39 > 0:00:43In Islam, depictions of God and the prophets are prohibited,
0:00:43 > 0:00:49but to many Muslims, so too are any human depictions or living creatures.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52One group would say any depiction is not allowed.
0:00:52 > 0:00:56Then there is the other school which say it's not a big deal.
0:00:56 > 0:01:00But on show at the British Museum are images from Muslim history
0:01:00 > 0:01:02which appear to break the present-day understanding
0:01:02 > 0:01:05of the rules of Muslim art.
0:01:05 > 0:01:09In the modern period, people take this prohibition
0:01:09 > 0:01:14in a much more literal sense than they might have taken it in a pre-modern period.
0:01:14 > 0:01:18Included here are portraits, depictions of human figures
0:01:18 > 0:01:24and whole tableaux, showing pilgrims performing the most important pillar of the Muslim faith.
0:01:26 > 0:01:30There's nothing in the Qur'an that says figural art is not permitted.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33But idol worship is not permitted.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37So, if human depiction is the source of such controversy,
0:01:37 > 0:01:41how come art displayed here shows a tradition of figurative art
0:01:41 > 0:01:45at the heart of Islam, for century after century?
0:01:45 > 0:01:50I'm fascinated to see how the artistic traditions of Islam
0:01:50 > 0:01:52have navigated this through the centuries.
0:01:52 > 0:01:54Sometimes they've been at odds with the clerics.
0:01:54 > 0:02:01Sometimes, visual depiction has led to violence, crisis and destruction.
0:02:01 > 0:02:06There's been no public controversy over the inclusion of these images in this exhibition,
0:02:06 > 0:02:10supported by the country overseeing the sacred sites of Mecca. But why?
0:02:10 > 0:02:14Have the rules changed? I'm setting out to get to the bottom
0:02:14 > 0:02:17of what forms of art are acceptable for a Muslim
0:02:17 > 0:02:22and why this artistic tradition has thrived in the hidden art of Islam.
0:02:41 > 0:02:46To understand the origins of the Muslim approach to visual art,
0:02:46 > 0:02:49you have to understand the significance of this place.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54It was here, at a cave overlooking the city of Mecca,
0:02:54 > 0:02:59that Muslims believe the Prophet Muhammad received his first revelation from God.
0:03:01 > 0:03:05These revelations continued throughout his lifetime
0:03:05 > 0:03:08and formed the Qur'an, the Muslim holy book.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12And it made Mecca the centre-point of Muslim worship.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19It's the place people strive to reach in their lifetime...
0:03:23 > 0:03:26..pray towards five times a day...
0:03:28 > 0:03:32..and the direction in which they are buried when they die.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35At the heart of Mecca is the Grand Mosque,
0:03:35 > 0:03:41and at its centre, this, the Kaaba.
0:03:41 > 0:03:45In essence, the most beautiful thing about Mecca is the Kaaba itself
0:03:45 > 0:03:48and its beauty is in its simplicity.
0:03:48 > 0:03:50It's a black box
0:03:50 > 0:03:53and it's a black box which people circumambulate.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57And it's just so divinely simple, yet so divinely beautiful.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02Muslims believe that the Kaaba was built by the Prophet Abraham,
0:04:02 > 0:04:05under divine instruction,
0:04:05 > 0:04:08as a focal point of a simple message that there was one god,
0:04:08 > 0:04:11not the many gods of the pagan past.
0:04:12 > 0:04:18But by Muhammad's time, the Kaaba had been taken over by pagan Arabs
0:04:18 > 0:04:21and somewhat ironically, had been festooned with icons
0:04:21 > 0:04:23of their tribal gods.
0:04:23 > 0:04:30Until, in 630 AD, after years of persecution, exile and warfare,
0:04:30 > 0:04:34Muhammad and his followers took over leadership of Mecca.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38He destroyed the idols at the Kaaba and re-established it
0:04:38 > 0:04:41as a simple house, dedicated to the one god.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45This act defined this most sacred site in Islam
0:04:45 > 0:04:49as a place where the one god should not be depicted.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53The Kaaba is just something which is the house itself,
0:04:53 > 0:04:57the way it was built, this is the meaning in Arabic.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00But in fact, it's the symbol of God's house. He's not here
0:05:00 > 0:05:03but this is the symbol of his presence on Earth,
0:05:03 > 0:05:04where Muslims have to go,
0:05:04 > 0:05:08and there is no images, nothing there to represent him
0:05:08 > 0:05:10because we should not represent God.
0:05:10 > 0:05:15So it's a place without a physical presence but a spiritual presence.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20The depiction of God himself, or the Prophet,
0:05:20 > 0:05:23or any of the figures that are religiously associated,
0:05:23 > 0:05:27any prophets for that matter, or the angels, are prohibited.
0:05:27 > 0:05:33This is to keep the sanctity of God who is beyond a depiction,
0:05:33 > 0:05:35God who is beyond an object.
0:05:35 > 0:05:37The Prophet Muhammad,
0:05:37 > 0:05:41when he takes Mecca, destroys the idols in the Kaaba,
0:05:41 > 0:05:45and the very strong iconoclastic nature of that.
0:05:45 > 0:05:52The fear is that if something is made, it may become an object of worship.
0:05:52 > 0:05:55People will produce, for example, sculptures,
0:05:55 > 0:05:57which could also double up as idols.
0:05:57 > 0:06:02The simplicity of the Kaaba itself provides a constant reminder
0:06:02 > 0:06:06to Muslims of why there should be no depiction of God or the prophets.
0:06:06 > 0:06:12A message most profoundly underlined when any Muslim completes the pilgrimage
0:06:12 > 0:06:15of the Hajj - the fifth pillar of Islam.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20I've been to Hajj myself
0:06:20 > 0:06:26and one of the greatest journeys of any human's life is Hajj.
0:06:26 > 0:06:31What was the most awesome experience was looking at the house of God.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37But as well as the visual meaning attached to the Kaaba,
0:06:37 > 0:06:40there is a further reason why artists from the Islamic world
0:06:40 > 0:06:46have been discouraged from creating depictions of any human likeness, if they are in religious settings.
0:06:56 > 0:07:00In the Qur'an, there are 99 different names for God,
0:07:00 > 0:07:03each of them signifying a characteristic.
0:07:03 > 0:07:07There is Al-Rahman, The Beneficent, Al-Rahim, The Merciful.
0:07:07 > 0:07:11One of those characteristics is Al-Khaliq, The Creator,
0:07:11 > 0:07:15and it's the reason why so many Muslims believe
0:07:15 > 0:07:18that when an artist shows the human form or the form of any creature,
0:07:18 > 0:07:22they're putting themselves in the role reserved for God.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25And it's the reason why, over the centuries,
0:07:25 > 0:07:30clerics and artists have debated what is acceptable and what isn't.
0:07:30 > 0:07:32It's also left room for interpretation
0:07:32 > 0:07:37as to what could be deemed to be realistic or not.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40Some would say this saying of the Prophet, or sayings of the Prophet,
0:07:40 > 0:07:47around prohibition of human beings or living entities, a drawing of them, is clear and absolute.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49That is not true, because if it was absolute,
0:07:49 > 0:07:52why would there be so many others who say it's not?
0:07:52 > 0:07:57I don't think human beings have the capacity to draw anything real.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01Whatever I draw can never be real, though it may be a replica
0:08:01 > 0:08:03of what is real, but it is not real.
0:08:03 > 0:08:05Therefore I sit quite comfortably,
0:08:05 > 0:08:08not worried about anyone competing with God and winning.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10You can't win with God!
0:08:14 > 0:08:19At the British Museum, they're unpacking a unique parcel.
0:08:23 > 0:08:29In it is a carefully wrapped Qur'an, dating back to the 8th century,
0:08:29 > 0:08:32one of the first examples of a written Qur'an.
0:08:37 > 0:08:41Muslim scholars accept that this Qur'an is from the Hijaz region
0:08:41 > 0:08:43of what is now Saudi Arabia -
0:08:43 > 0:08:48a region which includes the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.
0:08:51 > 0:08:56The text is written on parchment, in an early style of Arabic script called Ma'il,
0:08:56 > 0:08:59which means "sloping", in this case to the right.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03It also lacks any marks or symbols that usually distinguish letters
0:09:03 > 0:09:05of a similar shape.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14It was this, the Arabic script's shape and design
0:09:14 > 0:09:18that led to the first and most enduring element in Islamic art.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28If it was generally agreed in the early Islamic community
0:09:28 > 0:09:31that there shouldn't be figural art in religious settings,
0:09:31 > 0:09:36then the early artists and calligraphers were faced with what to do with the Qur'an.
0:09:36 > 0:09:38After all, they were part of a tradition
0:09:38 > 0:09:41where the Bible had been illustrated sumptuously,
0:09:41 > 0:09:46and so there were models for what religious books should look like.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50But the Qur'an, if it wasn't going to have figural designs in,
0:09:50 > 0:09:53what was it going to have? And so illumination was developed
0:09:53 > 0:09:57and geometry, geometric designs, were something they'd inherited
0:09:57 > 0:10:01from late antiquity, and so,
0:10:01 > 0:10:05the early artists and calligraphers adopted it, used it for illumination.
0:10:05 > 0:10:09And so you get frontispieces of early Qur'ans which are geometric
0:10:09 > 0:10:14because that's a non-threatening type of decoration
0:10:14 > 0:10:18which adds great lustre to the items concerned.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21There are three fundamental aspects behind Islamic art.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24You have geometry, which is the foundation.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28Then you have islimi, which you might know as arabesque,
0:10:28 > 0:10:31which is the floral aspect of Islamic art.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33At the top of the hierarchy is the calligraphy
0:10:33 > 0:10:34cos that's the word of God.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39Islamic artists built on the Arabic saying,
0:10:39 > 0:10:42"Purity of writing is purity of soul."
0:10:44 > 0:10:48They experimented with the shape and design of the Arabic letters,
0:10:48 > 0:10:52using the flowing Arabic language to express the beauty they perceived
0:10:52 > 0:10:55in the words of the Qur'an.
0:11:10 > 0:11:15I've been doing calligraphy for about ten years now.
0:11:15 > 0:11:19It started off as an exploration of, essentially, the written word.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22Ruh Al-Alam is a young British artist.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25He studied the art of calligraphy in Cairo,
0:11:25 > 0:11:29under one of the most well-known calligraphers today.
0:11:30 > 0:11:36Arabic calligraphy began with two fundamental sources.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38One, the Qur'an, the holy scripture.
0:11:38 > 0:11:44And the prohibition against depicting figurative work in Islam.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him,
0:11:47 > 0:11:52the first word that was revealed to him, by the Angel Gabriel,
0:11:52 > 0:11:54was "Iqra", meaning "read".
0:11:54 > 0:11:59This was the foundation for seeking knowledge for Muslims.
0:11:59 > 0:12:04But also, the verse continues, it continues to teach Muslims
0:12:04 > 0:12:09that knowledge was taught to man by the use of the pen.
0:12:09 > 0:12:13And therefore, transmission of knowledge was key.
0:12:13 > 0:12:19Calligraphy binds both knowledge and penmanship in one.
0:12:20 > 0:12:27These are a few of the letters that are found in the Holy Qur'an,
0:12:27 > 0:12:30which, in fact, nobody knows the meaning of.
0:12:30 > 0:12:35These are the mysterious letters that are found at the beginning
0:12:35 > 0:12:37of certain chapters of the Qur'an.
0:12:37 > 0:12:41Er, and that mystery, of not knowing what these letters represent,
0:12:41 > 0:12:45is, in itself, beautiful.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53Calligraphers were given precise rules
0:12:53 > 0:12:59for how they should write letters from the medieval period.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03And particularly with respect to how they copy Qur'ans.
0:13:03 > 0:13:08The interesting thing was how you should write a certain ligature,
0:13:08 > 0:13:10for example in one brushstroke,
0:13:10 > 0:13:13how the size of a ligature was related, say,
0:13:13 > 0:13:18to the proportions of the eye, the eye which is seeing it.
0:13:18 > 0:13:22How the dots, the noktas, related to the ligatures and so forth.
0:13:22 > 0:13:27There's elements of proportion which were very mathematical and precise,
0:13:27 > 0:13:35which are laid down. The idea was you could produce something which was beautiful using these rules.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40The way the letters were used,
0:13:40 > 0:13:44even though they may not seem as decorative, right at the beginning,
0:13:44 > 0:13:46in between the 8th to 10th centuries,
0:13:46 > 0:13:51even then there was a very specific geometry used.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55There was a real harmony in the way the letters were fitted to the page
0:13:55 > 0:13:57and the way certain letters
0:13:57 > 0:14:02were elongated so that each line, the margins would be even on both sides
0:14:02 > 0:14:03and they'd be justified.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08As Islam spread, the art of calligraphy developed,
0:14:08 > 0:14:11reaching its peak, among other places,
0:14:11 > 0:14:16here, in Turkey, under the Ottoman Empire.
0:14:28 > 0:14:34Calligraphy is also integral to the decoration of the world's great mosques.
0:14:34 > 0:14:41The words come from the Qur'an or are names of the Prophet Muhammad.
0:14:50 > 0:14:54At an Istanbul art gallery, there is the largest collection
0:14:54 > 0:14:56of contemporary Turkish calligraphy.
0:14:56 > 0:15:01It is put together as a homage to the Prophet Muhammad.
0:15:02 > 0:15:07In this work, art and belief go hand in hand.
0:15:07 > 0:15:09MAN DESCRIBES ARTWORK IN ANOTHER LANGUAGE
0:15:12 > 0:15:16Oh, there's er... Amazing, fantastic.
0:15:17 > 0:15:23Do you have any particular feelings when you're writing verses from the Qur'an?
0:15:24 > 0:15:27TRANSLATION: When you look at the art forms
0:15:27 > 0:15:31in the world, you will see that the only divine form is the art of calligraphy,
0:15:31 > 0:15:35because we are putting the words of God on paper
0:15:35 > 0:15:36and hence enable people to read it.
0:15:36 > 0:15:41That's why I can't describe or compare the feeling I have doing calligraphy.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46Actually, it is said that the heart can only be happy
0:15:46 > 0:15:47with the mention of God.
0:15:47 > 0:15:51The same feelings apply to us when we deliver Qur'anic verses
0:15:51 > 0:15:54in calligraphy.
0:16:05 > 0:16:09Alongside calligraphy, the exquisite precision
0:16:09 > 0:16:13of traditional Islamic design, seen in arabesque and geometric patterns,
0:16:13 > 0:16:19has maintained its appeal in contemporary design studios.
0:16:19 > 0:16:24It's a language of symmetry which was first developed by the Greeks,
0:16:24 > 0:16:29but then extrapolated and developed upon within the Islamic tradition.
0:16:29 > 0:16:33So often what you will see is an underlying geometric pattern
0:16:33 > 0:16:35which you might find in Euclid.
0:16:35 > 0:16:39And then, on top of that, you'll find the Muslim craftsmen would elaborate
0:16:39 > 0:16:44more complex geometric designs which would appear on top of that grid.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46And then they would hide the underlying grid.
0:16:47 > 0:16:52The idea is that these patterns are there to engender
0:16:52 > 0:16:54a contemplative state.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58The repetitions that one sees within islimi patterns
0:16:58 > 0:17:02and geometric patterns allow the mind to think upon the repetition
0:17:02 > 0:17:08of pattern within nature and the idea of the infinite weave
0:17:08 > 0:17:11and the infinite movement and repetition of form
0:17:11 > 0:17:13that one sees within the natural world.
0:17:13 > 0:17:17So this is an example of islimi, or arabesque.
0:17:17 > 0:17:19To complete a composition like this,
0:17:19 > 0:17:22you'd start off with the geometry, that's the structure.
0:17:22 > 0:17:28So, you'll draw your square and then inside this square is a dynamic square, here.
0:17:28 > 0:17:34And then that houses these linear shapes.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37And they're the structural shapes, you have four of those,
0:17:37 > 0:17:43here, here and here. And then you have, overlaid, four spirals.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46And they're the structural lines.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49Once you have those, you can add the motifs.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52This particular motif is called a rumi motif.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56It's not named after the poet. Both the poet and the motif
0:17:56 > 0:17:59are named after the city, Rum, or Asiatic Rome,
0:17:59 > 0:18:02which was in Anatolia, the capital of Anatolia.
0:18:02 > 0:18:09There are original examples of this in Seljuk carvings of birds and animals.
0:18:09 > 0:18:14And as they adopted Islam, they lost the representation
0:18:14 > 0:18:18and it became this abstract art motif.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22It's often said that Islamic art is like a meditation upon the invisible,
0:18:22 > 0:18:26so you can see, as well as structural principles here,
0:18:26 > 0:18:29there's a symbolic language in operation also.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33The fundamental link between proportion and beauty,
0:18:33 > 0:18:35that's at the heart of it.
0:18:35 > 0:18:37The principle of Islamic aesthetics,
0:18:37 > 0:18:42exactly the same notion of proportion between different shapes
0:18:42 > 0:18:46and between the horizontal and the vertical,
0:18:46 > 0:18:50between the different dimensions. Everything is quite precise.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53Of course, sometimes they get things slightly wrong.
0:18:53 > 0:19:00Certainly the traditional argument is that if the proportion is slightly off,
0:19:00 > 0:19:06then you can, through your aesthetic sense, notice it's wrong.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10But the fundamental thing was that if you got the proportions right,
0:19:10 > 0:19:13you would produce a work of beauty and that's quite important.
0:19:14 > 0:19:19Early Islamic art and architecture also try to depict
0:19:19 > 0:19:21the Qur'anic description of paradise -
0:19:21 > 0:19:23a concept of beauty on Earth,
0:19:23 > 0:19:27with gardens, flowing streams, geometric arches.
0:19:27 > 0:19:33There's a verse in the Qur'an where God says, "We have taught you how to calculate,
0:19:33 > 0:19:37"we have taught you the science of computation
0:19:37 > 0:19:40"about the stars and the moon and the planets.
0:19:40 > 0:19:44"We've given you the knowledge so that you can navigate your way
0:19:44 > 0:19:46"through the seas by creating compass."
0:19:46 > 0:19:51All of these indicate to one particular science
0:19:51 > 0:19:53that's called mathematics.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57If you look at Islamic history - the garden, the mosque, the minaret,
0:19:57 > 0:20:02the mihrab, the pulpit - every part of an Islamic architectural depiction
0:20:02 > 0:20:06have always been geometrically perfect.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09The way the ventilations have been designed,
0:20:09 > 0:20:14they're all geometrically perfect, always correlating with one another,
0:20:14 > 0:20:17often depicting the five pillars of Islam.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21Or often depicting the articles of faith,
0:20:21 > 0:20:26depicting the heavenly presence, the gardens of paradise,
0:20:26 > 0:20:28the water, the fruit, the palm tree.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31All of these are geometrically put in
0:20:31 > 0:20:35and inspired by the very notion of maths from the Qur'an itself.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39The artistry and the aesthetics of the Islamic world,
0:20:39 > 0:20:42born out of the constraints about depicting humans
0:20:42 > 0:20:45and other living creatures in religious settings,
0:20:45 > 0:20:48have become part of global tastes in art and design
0:20:48 > 0:20:52beyond the Muslim context in which they were created.
0:20:53 > 0:20:57Many outside of the Islamic world have not recognised
0:20:57 > 0:21:02what inspired these increasingly familiar motifs.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07Ah, this is an amazing thing.
0:21:09 > 0:21:16As part of the Kiswa archive, this gives you the photos -
0:21:16 > 0:21:19they're literally like little passport photos of the people
0:21:19 > 0:21:22who were actually making the sacred textiles.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26To be a Muslim artist has traditionally meant
0:21:26 > 0:21:29that whether you were a painter or an architect,
0:21:29 > 0:21:33or working with textiles, your palette was made up of calligraphy,
0:21:33 > 0:21:35arabesque and geometry.
0:21:35 > 0:21:40It's completely wonderful to be able to put a face to these people
0:21:40 > 0:21:43whose job it was to make the sacred textiles.
0:21:44 > 0:21:50These particular craftsmen deployed the traditional Islamic artistic approach
0:21:50 > 0:21:53to the creation of textiles for use around the Kaaba.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56The Mahmal was an ornate cloth,
0:21:56 > 0:22:00brought annually for many years from Egypt to adorn the Kaaba at the time of the Hajj.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04It'd be placed next to the black cloth that covered the Kaaba
0:22:04 > 0:22:06throughout the year called the Kiswa.
0:22:06 > 0:22:11What we've got here are objects from a very important archive
0:22:11 > 0:22:17of all sorts of documents that are to do with the making of the Kiswa
0:22:17 > 0:22:23in Cairo. The Kiswa being the covering for the Kaaba.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26We talk about the Kiswa, which is the black covering,
0:22:26 > 0:22:29but it's also all the other textiles that went with it.
0:22:29 > 0:22:36There was a special workshop in Cairo where all of these wonderful textiles were made.
0:22:36 > 0:22:40And what's wonderful about this piece here,
0:22:40 > 0:22:44is that this is the template for the design of the bag,
0:22:44 > 0:22:50so the bag that was made to carry the precious keys
0:22:50 > 0:22:53of the Kaaba that were given as gifts.
0:22:53 > 0:22:58In order to get the correct design, they made little holes through it,
0:22:58 > 0:23:02in order then that you could be able to work out
0:23:02 > 0:23:04the design on the textile.
0:23:05 > 0:23:09The Mahmal has had its share of politics. The Mamluk
0:23:09 > 0:23:11and Ottoman rulers of Egypt started a tradition
0:23:11 > 0:23:15of sending this heavily decorated textile to Mecca,
0:23:15 > 0:23:18accompanying the pilgrim caravans to the Hajj.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22It would stay on the Kaaba and then come back to Cairo.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30To the Egyptian and Turkish rulers,
0:23:30 > 0:23:33it was a symbol of their protective rights over the Kaaba.
0:23:33 > 0:23:38But to the Saudis, it was a symbol of territorial control
0:23:38 > 0:23:41and religiously heretical. In 1814,
0:23:41 > 0:23:45followers of a Saudi cleric, ibn Wahhab, tried to stop it.
0:23:45 > 0:23:46And in 1926,
0:23:46 > 0:23:49the practice finally came to an end.
0:23:49 > 0:23:53Many of the traditions which are around the Hajj
0:23:53 > 0:23:59were stopped, partly because it was an assertion of their power,
0:23:59 > 0:24:05but also because they didn't necessarily want people
0:24:05 > 0:24:12to associate sanctity with objects. So, for example, if you have
0:24:12 > 0:24:17this annual commemoration where special cloth is made or weaved
0:24:17 > 0:24:23for the Kaaba and its use of gold thread, very nice velvet and silks and so forth,
0:24:23 > 0:24:28then their understanding was that this was about veneration
0:24:28 > 0:24:30of a cubic building.
0:24:30 > 0:24:34Whereas, of course, everyone else understood
0:24:34 > 0:24:38that traditionally this was about the beauty of the place.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42It was about the celebration of the Kaaba because it was a central focus of Hajj.
0:24:42 > 0:24:46It wasn't about the worship or veneration of a building,
0:24:46 > 0:24:50it was about beautifying it, because it was the centre of the rituals.
0:24:54 > 0:24:56Through history, the rulers of the Islamic world
0:24:56 > 0:25:00held secular power, as well as religious faith.
0:25:00 > 0:25:05Some faced a dilemma when these twin forces pulled in opposite directions.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08Little more than 50 years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad,
0:25:08 > 0:25:10such dilemmas were being faced
0:25:10 > 0:25:13by one of the earliest Muslim heads of state,
0:25:13 > 0:25:17whose rule began in 682 AD.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23If you're an emperor, or a king, or a queen,
0:25:23 > 0:25:25what image do you put on your coins?
0:25:25 > 0:25:28Byzantine and Roman emperors put their portrait on it.
0:25:28 > 0:25:32Caliph Abdul Malik, one of the first Muslim rulers of the Umayyad empire,
0:25:32 > 0:25:33wasn't so sure.
0:25:33 > 0:25:38In the late 7th century, he was faced with the problem
0:25:38 > 0:25:41of introducing a new coinage for the Islamic community.
0:25:41 > 0:25:45And he had to choose. He had the Byzantine coinage
0:25:45 > 0:25:46or the Sasanian Iranian coinage.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49Both had figures of kings or emperors on them.
0:25:49 > 0:25:53He tried putting a figure of himself
0:25:53 > 0:25:58on a coinage but then he rejected that, having issued it,
0:25:58 > 0:26:01and he developed a completely new coinage
0:26:01 > 0:26:04which was solely epigraphic. That means it was covered in inscriptions
0:26:04 > 0:26:08on both sides, Qur'anic inscriptions and later historical inscriptions.
0:26:08 > 0:26:12Figural imagery was discarded at that point for the coinage.
0:26:12 > 0:26:16That's a very significant moment in Islamic history
0:26:16 > 0:26:22because that means from then onwards, the identity of the Islamic community, the Islamic empire,
0:26:22 > 0:26:25was focused on coins which had no images on them,
0:26:25 > 0:26:28simply the calligraphic inscriptions.
0:26:31 > 0:26:35But other Muslim rulers, as they grew in power and wealth,
0:26:35 > 0:26:38wanted art to reflect their lives,
0:26:38 > 0:26:42in their palaces and private spaces.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45They asked their artists to draw pictures of them,
0:26:45 > 0:26:47of their lives, holding court,
0:26:47 > 0:26:51hunting, or just looking good.
0:26:51 > 0:26:55Paintings of this kind illustrate the luxurious lives
0:26:55 > 0:26:56of Muslim monarchs.
0:26:57 > 0:27:01These rulers were not bothered by what Islam allows or doesn't allow.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05What stimulated them was voyeurism, power, greed,
0:27:05 > 0:27:10an absolute chauvinistic lifestyle that they led,
0:27:10 > 0:27:14almost veering into, or edging on to hedonism that we see in the modern world.
0:27:14 > 0:27:18In fact, maybe mutation of hedonism in a much graver manner.
0:27:22 > 0:27:27Artists in the Islamic world faced a serious dilemma.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30On the one hand, they were being asked to produce work
0:27:30 > 0:27:32that showed the human form.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35But to do so would invoke the wrath of the clerics.
0:27:35 > 0:27:37What they did to try and overcome this
0:27:37 > 0:27:43was to strike a balance between these two very conflicting demands.
0:27:43 > 0:27:45Some artists, as a means to compromising
0:27:45 > 0:27:50between the clerics and the rulers,
0:27:50 > 0:27:54did depict the monarchs, the emperors, in one-dimensional pictures.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58So you actually can't make a real feature of a human being
0:27:58 > 0:28:03or a person, they all would look very similar cos it's one-dimensional.
0:28:03 > 0:28:05That was a compromise.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08They did not want to become known, in the eyes of the clerics,
0:28:08 > 0:28:12as aiding the heretic, and they did not want to be killed
0:28:12 > 0:28:17by the emperor for rebelling and being called treacherous or traitors.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20And they came up with these one-dimensional pictures.
0:28:22 > 0:28:28There were times when you had literal-minded clerics,
0:28:28 > 0:28:31who were very unhappy about figurative art, in the same way
0:28:31 > 0:28:35as they were unhappy about the king drinking wine, right?
0:28:35 > 0:28:39But we also know for most of history, they tolerated it perfectly well.
0:28:39 > 0:28:43Things ebb and flow. Sometimes what happens in the modern period
0:28:43 > 0:28:48is we assume there is a basic relationship between the clerics
0:28:48 > 0:28:49and those in political power
0:28:49 > 0:28:53and that this relationship has been fixed throughout time.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56And this is clearly not the case.
0:28:56 > 0:29:01For most of history, those in power basically were in charge.
0:29:01 > 0:29:03So what they said, the values they established,
0:29:03 > 0:29:07the aesthetics they established, the court culture they established,
0:29:07 > 0:29:12was far more significant than any rules that any clerics put down.
0:29:15 > 0:29:18We never find, in later Islamic art,
0:29:18 > 0:29:20the three-dimensional plastic art.
0:29:20 > 0:29:25You know, sculpture, images of the ruler in three dimensions.
0:29:25 > 0:29:28And also, there's a tendency in the figurative art,
0:29:28 > 0:29:33in miniature painting, for example, not to represent volume.
0:29:33 > 0:29:35I think that's something to do with an avoidance
0:29:35 > 0:29:40of giving life to pictures so as you're rivalling God.
0:29:41 > 0:29:46Muslim artists use form and colour in a particular way.
0:29:48 > 0:29:51The composition does not have any perspective.
0:29:51 > 0:29:52There is no light or shade.
0:29:52 > 0:29:55The paintings are never naturalistic.
0:29:55 > 0:29:59They do not temper the edges of their coloured areas
0:29:59 > 0:30:00with reflections or shadows.
0:30:02 > 0:30:05There are no atmospheric colour effects
0:30:05 > 0:30:08used to convey depth or sense of distance.
0:30:10 > 0:30:13Brightly coloured animals and plants,
0:30:13 > 0:30:16which are supposed to be lying in the far distance,
0:30:16 > 0:30:19are depicted as large and as clearly as those on the foreground.
0:30:19 > 0:30:23My surmise would be because it all began with wall paintings.
0:30:23 > 0:30:28And wall paintings tend to have areas of flat colour
0:30:28 > 0:30:32because that's the way they've traditionally been painted.
0:30:32 > 0:30:36The earliest wall paintings we have from the Near East or Middle East,
0:30:36 > 0:30:41are from the Sogdia, that's the 6th, 7th century AD in central Asia.
0:30:41 > 0:30:45And they show the stories of Rustam in polychrome,
0:30:45 > 0:30:48but in different flat colours.
0:30:48 > 0:30:53I think probably what's happened is those have got translated
0:30:53 > 0:30:56into miniature painting and books originally.
0:30:56 > 0:31:03So that idea of flat colours side by side is the way it developed.
0:31:03 > 0:31:09I think it's a popular misconception that Islamic art is either
0:31:09 > 0:31:14geometric, or floral or calligraphic.
0:31:14 > 0:31:21The great courts produced artworks that are surprisingly varied
0:31:21 > 0:31:25and include a plethora of figural imagery.
0:31:26 > 0:31:29But whilst the great courts may have produced a plethora
0:31:29 > 0:31:34of figurative images, over many centuries that did not always mean
0:31:34 > 0:31:38that the controversial nature of such artwork diminished.
0:31:38 > 0:31:41In fact, one artefact in the British Museum exhibition
0:31:41 > 0:31:45provides evidence of what happened in the 14th century,
0:31:45 > 0:31:48when the tastes of secular power
0:31:48 > 0:31:50collided with a more orthodox outlook.
0:31:50 > 0:31:55The court of a Mongol ruler dispatched this candlestick as a present
0:31:55 > 0:31:58to the city of Medina, in modern-day Saudi Arabia,
0:31:58 > 0:32:01the city where the Prophet himself is buried.
0:32:02 > 0:32:06When it was originally produced, it had figures
0:32:06 > 0:32:07that went all around it.
0:32:07 > 0:32:11If you look closely at it, you'll see the faces have been rubbed off.
0:32:13 > 0:32:18They would have been inlaid and would have popped out when you first looked at them,
0:32:18 > 0:32:21they'd have been a prominent band across the candlestick base.
0:32:21 > 0:32:23And now they've been muted.
0:32:28 > 0:32:31But these controversies and sensibilities
0:32:31 > 0:32:36over what can be depicted have not been observed in the same way
0:32:36 > 0:32:39by one important branch of Islam.
0:32:41 > 0:32:46The great schism in Islam between the majority Sunni and the minority Shi'a
0:32:46 > 0:32:49is also reflected in the development of Islamic art.
0:32:49 > 0:32:52While art in most of the Sunni Muslim world had this tension
0:32:52 > 0:32:57between the ruler's desire for figurative paintings and the cleric's dislike of it,
0:32:57 > 0:33:01art for Shi'a Muslims developed in complete contrast.
0:33:03 > 0:33:10Shi'a theology includes the veneration of members of the Prophet's family,
0:33:10 > 0:33:13down in the case of Twelver Shi'ism,
0:33:13 > 0:33:17which is the dominant religion in southern Iraq and Iran,
0:33:17 > 0:33:21it has the veneration of those imams,
0:33:21 > 0:33:27members of the Prophet's family, in a way which doesn't happen in Sunni Islam, in orthodox Islam.
0:33:29 > 0:33:33Shi'a Islam traces its beginning to the Battle of Karbala,
0:33:33 > 0:33:39in modern-day Iraq, where in 680 AD, the Prophet's grandson Hussein was killed,
0:33:39 > 0:33:42a conflict over the leadership of the expanding Muslim community.
0:33:44 > 0:33:48The origin that Shi'ites claim is the Battle of Karbala,
0:33:48 > 0:33:54at the end of the 7th century, when Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet,
0:33:54 > 0:33:58is killed by the caliph's forces, and that becomes the excuse,
0:33:58 > 0:34:04the reason, the moment at which Shi'ism looks back perpetually.
0:34:04 > 0:34:06It won't forget, it won't forgive
0:34:06 > 0:34:10and that becomes the driving force for Shi'ism in the future.
0:34:10 > 0:34:14Now then, that narrative is about people.
0:34:14 > 0:34:17And so you have, in Shi'ism,
0:34:17 > 0:34:24a motivation for showing what those people were like.
0:34:24 > 0:34:29Just as in Christianity, you had a narrative about Jesus as a man,
0:34:29 > 0:34:32as well as in the Christian belief as the son of God,
0:34:32 > 0:34:34so in Shi'ite Islam you have a narrative
0:34:34 > 0:34:40of the death of Hussein at Karbala and of the other members of the family.
0:34:40 > 0:34:45And that, I think, is what's behind the use of imagery in Shi'ite Islam.
0:34:46 > 0:34:50Just a few weeks ago, I was in Iraq
0:34:50 > 0:34:53and I picked up a poster depicting the battle at Karbala,
0:34:53 > 0:34:57with quite a lot of blood, you know, heads that have been chopped off,
0:34:57 > 0:34:59arrows in the eye and so forth.
0:34:59 > 0:35:06And it's supposed to be a scene which evokes sorrow and pathos.
0:35:06 > 0:35:11The function of a lot of the art which is associated with Karbala
0:35:11 > 0:35:15is reminding people what happened and it's a vehicle
0:35:15 > 0:35:18to encourage them to cry and grieve over what happened.
0:35:23 > 0:35:27Such depictions are at odds with the Sunni tradition,
0:35:27 > 0:35:29which is followed by most Muslims.
0:35:29 > 0:35:32And yet, some of the items on display here
0:35:32 > 0:35:35show that even within this tradition,
0:35:35 > 0:35:40the orthodoxy surrounding human depiction in religious settings
0:35:40 > 0:35:41is not always followed.
0:35:41 > 0:35:45Especially when the epic Hajj journey of a Muslim ruler
0:35:45 > 0:35:49becomes a historical event in its own right.
0:35:52 > 0:35:56Mansa Musa, the ruler of Mali in West Africa,
0:35:56 > 0:35:59made his pilgrimage in 1324,
0:35:59 > 0:36:06his procession reported to include 60,000 men and 12,000 slaves.
0:36:07 > 0:36:11Mali was the source of West African gold, immensely wealthy.
0:36:11 > 0:36:18He carried with him something like 80 camels loaded with gold dust.
0:36:18 > 0:36:22When he reached Cairo, he started buying trinkets.
0:36:22 > 0:36:29And the Cairoean historians record that the whole economy went completely berserk.
0:36:29 > 0:36:33Inflation went up sky-high and it took about ten years
0:36:33 > 0:36:37for the economy in Egypt to recover.
0:36:37 > 0:36:42The depiction of his Hajj journey is among the earliest artistic example,
0:36:42 > 0:36:45not just of the inanimate features of Mecca,
0:36:45 > 0:36:50but of the human figures arriving into this undeniably religious setting.
0:36:50 > 0:36:54Century after century, the pilgrimage is depicted
0:36:54 > 0:36:56and the pilgrims.
0:36:57 > 0:37:01There's a very clear line between the religious context
0:37:01 > 0:37:02and the secular context.
0:37:02 > 0:37:08And so, in secular context, in people's homes or in palaces,
0:37:08 > 0:37:12it was quite often the case that you could have figural representation
0:37:12 > 0:37:14on the walls of houses and so on.
0:37:14 > 0:37:19It's a very different story when you get to the religious context
0:37:19 > 0:37:23because Qur'ans are never illustrated in the same way that Bibles are,
0:37:23 > 0:37:28that in mosques, you never get figural representation.
0:37:28 > 0:37:32And so that's actually a very clear distinction.
0:37:34 > 0:37:38Hajj is obligatory only to those Muslim men and women
0:37:38 > 0:37:40who have the financial means to do it.
0:37:40 > 0:37:43Before setting out, they have to settle all their debts.
0:37:43 > 0:37:48The dates for Hajj is set through the Muslim lunar calendar.
0:37:48 > 0:37:52Before getting to Mecca, pilgrims meet at specified places
0:37:52 > 0:37:55to get into a state of Ihram, or purification.
0:37:55 > 0:37:58Men need to wear two white seamless cloths.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01Women can wear normal clothes but most wear white
0:38:01 > 0:38:05and they need to keep their faces uncovered.
0:38:08 > 0:38:12They then make their way to the Grand Mosque and the Kaaba
0:38:12 > 0:38:14that stands inside it.
0:38:17 > 0:38:20They circumambulate around it seven times
0:38:20 > 0:38:23before going on to carry out other rituals that take place
0:38:23 > 0:38:26over the next five to six days.
0:38:31 > 0:38:34Now, imagine I had to tell this story of the pilgrimage
0:38:34 > 0:38:37without actually seeing any pilgrims.
0:38:37 > 0:38:41It's a situation that must have faced the most religious of Muslim leaders
0:38:41 > 0:38:45and yet time and again, the need to tell the powerful story
0:38:45 > 0:38:50of the Hajj overcame any reticence about showing the human form.
0:38:52 > 0:38:55These are my absolute favourite objects
0:38:55 > 0:38:56within the exhibition.
0:38:56 > 0:39:00They're paintings that accompanied a pilgrim guide, called the Anis-al-Hujjaj,
0:39:00 > 0:39:05and they show pilgrims coming from India
0:39:05 > 0:39:08and you see the little pilgrim boats here.
0:39:08 > 0:39:11They would have set off on these ocean-going dhows.
0:39:11 > 0:39:13You can imagine in those days,
0:39:13 > 0:39:15it was really terrifying going on these journeys
0:39:15 > 0:39:21across the sea. Here we see the pilgrims who are described as crossing the Sea of Oman,
0:39:21 > 0:39:23so this is what we know as the Arabian Sea.
0:39:23 > 0:39:26So here you can see
0:39:26 > 0:39:28larger ships and then smaller ones
0:39:28 > 0:39:31because once they got close to the coast,
0:39:31 > 0:39:36often they needed to be guided by these special sea captains.
0:39:36 > 0:39:39Here, before they reached Jeddah,
0:39:39 > 0:39:42they would stop at Mocha, in Yemen.
0:39:42 > 0:39:48And again, this lovely schematised image of Mocha in Yemen.
0:39:50 > 0:39:53There is one place in the Muslim world
0:39:53 > 0:39:55where paintings of pilgrims have flourished,
0:39:55 > 0:39:59without the patronage of wealthy rulers.
0:40:01 > 0:40:04Many of the houses here are decorated with paintings
0:40:04 > 0:40:06depicting the Hajj journey.
0:40:06 > 0:40:08It's a centuries-old tradition
0:40:08 > 0:40:11and it shows the ways pilgrims travelled there,
0:40:11 > 0:40:14the people who did the Hajj and the familiar sights of Mecca.
0:40:27 > 0:40:32The ordinary Egyptians who are commissioning these paintings
0:40:32 > 0:40:36certainly have very little in common with the wealthy rulers
0:40:36 > 0:40:40who were commissioning their works of art on the Hajj centuries ago.
0:40:40 > 0:40:42Their status are different,
0:40:42 > 0:40:45as is the modes of transport which took them to Mecca.
0:40:45 > 0:40:48But what's important to bear in mind is that this tradition
0:40:48 > 0:40:51that I'm witnessing here is a continuation
0:40:51 > 0:40:55of the figurative depiction of the pilgrimage to the Hajj
0:40:55 > 0:40:57that was started centuries ago.
0:41:03 > 0:41:05400 miles south of Cairo,
0:41:05 > 0:41:09this area is now part of the expanding city of Luxor.
0:41:10 > 0:41:14My guide here is Khaled Hafez, a well-known Egyptian artist
0:41:14 > 0:41:16and a Muslim who has worked with local painters here
0:41:16 > 0:41:18and knows their work and style well.
0:41:18 > 0:41:21These types of Hajj paintings
0:41:21 > 0:41:24are only to be found in this part of Egypt.
0:41:24 > 0:41:28This is a beautiful example of how Hajj paintings are.
0:41:28 > 0:41:31What I find here phenomenal is that it actually documents,
0:41:31 > 0:41:35just like ancient Egyptian painting, what happens.
0:41:35 > 0:41:36So it states,
0:41:36 > 0:41:43the pilgrim did visit the Holy House of God
0:41:43 > 0:41:49and he visited the grave of the Prophet with his wife,
0:41:49 > 0:41:51this year, 2007.
0:41:51 > 0:41:54What I find amazing is that it's the first thing you see.
0:41:54 > 0:41:57The journey of the Hajj is on the face of the house,
0:41:57 > 0:41:58which is extraordinary.
0:41:59 > 0:42:01There is some sort of a recipe
0:42:01 > 0:42:07to every Hajj painting that you find, you know, in different arrangements.
0:42:07 > 0:42:09So you have the element of the Kaaba.
0:42:09 > 0:42:12And then here we have an image of a mosque.
0:42:12 > 0:42:16Of course, it signifies here the Prophet's mosque in Medina,
0:42:16 > 0:42:20or the mosque of al-Kaaba in Mecca.
0:42:20 > 0:42:24The calligraphy is done by a professional calligrapher,
0:42:24 > 0:42:27and he uses a type of calligraphy called Thuluth,
0:42:27 > 0:42:29which is the king of all calligraphy types.
0:42:29 > 0:42:33What is the calligraphy saying? Is it a verse from the Qur'an?
0:42:33 > 0:42:38- It says that a good pilgrimage only is the way to heaven.- Right.
0:42:38 > 0:42:44And then himself, the Hajj, we know that this Hajj has appeared.
0:42:44 > 0:42:48The artist did his best to sort of like portray.
0:42:48 > 0:42:51And he's dressed in the white cloth that you wear
0:42:51 > 0:42:53- when you go to the Hajj. - Absolutely.
0:42:53 > 0:42:55Given the sensitivities in Islam
0:42:55 > 0:42:59about the showing of the face in art,
0:42:59 > 0:43:02do people object in these paintings
0:43:02 > 0:43:06- to the display of the face? - No, not here.
0:43:06 > 0:43:08To the locals in Luxor
0:43:08 > 0:43:12and the practitioners of Hajj paintings on the walls,
0:43:12 > 0:43:15there is no objection to that at all.
0:43:15 > 0:43:18So this idea of prohibition of figuration
0:43:18 > 0:43:21does not exist in Hajj paintings.
0:43:28 > 0:43:32Why do you think people to this day still want to
0:43:32 > 0:43:36make such a statement like this?
0:43:36 > 0:43:41I think that with the introduction of Islam to Egypt, what went very well
0:43:41 > 0:43:47is this idea of reading and writing and documenting everything involved.
0:43:47 > 0:43:50Egyptians never lost this trait since the ancient times.
0:43:50 > 0:43:53Actually, we never lost the figuration in our art,
0:43:53 > 0:43:58and I think here, there is this always controversy
0:43:58 > 0:44:00between, you know, figuration, non-figuration...
0:44:00 > 0:44:01In Islam, yeah.
0:44:01 > 0:44:06But Islam never abolished the cultural specificity of some parts.
0:44:06 > 0:44:07What came before.
0:44:07 > 0:44:12Egypt, for instance, it was a visual culture and a verbal culture.
0:44:12 > 0:44:14The communities that were Islam-originated
0:44:14 > 0:44:18were principally the desert communities, more verbal cultures.
0:44:20 > 0:44:23It's also, you know, like bragging that we did visit the Prophet.
0:44:23 > 0:44:30This positive type of bragging existed since the ancient times.
0:44:33 > 0:44:37Mustapha, tell me, why did you want your house to be painted like this?
0:44:53 > 0:44:57- Because you want everyone to see you've been to Hajj?- Yes.
0:44:59 > 0:45:02The paintings that you find on the houses
0:45:02 > 0:45:04in this part of southern Egypt
0:45:04 > 0:45:06don't have the elaborate style
0:45:06 > 0:45:09with which one associates Islamic art around the world today -
0:45:09 > 0:45:13in fact, you could describe these paintings as being quite crude.
0:45:13 > 0:45:16But that is to miss the point, because what these paintings show
0:45:16 > 0:45:19is that even in the poorest parts of the Islamic world
0:45:19 > 0:45:22people are willing to use figurative art
0:45:22 > 0:45:27to tell the story of how powerful this spiritual journey the Hajj is,
0:45:27 > 0:45:30but that they're also willing to use art to tell the whole world
0:45:30 > 0:45:33this story, as it has been done for centuries.
0:45:44 > 0:45:47It seems to me that there's always been artists
0:45:47 > 0:45:49working in the Islamic world throughout history
0:45:49 > 0:45:51who've produced figurative art.
0:45:51 > 0:45:56But many have tried to avoid the realistic depiction of humans
0:45:56 > 0:45:58because it might be seen as putting them
0:45:58 > 0:46:01in direct competition with God - the Creator.
0:46:01 > 0:46:06The closest they've come to such figurative art in religion
0:46:06 > 0:46:09is when they've portrayed the epic journey
0:46:09 > 0:46:10of pilgrims to the Hajj in Mecca.
0:46:10 > 0:46:13But, one rule has remained constant -
0:46:13 > 0:46:17such figurative art has never appeared in mosques
0:46:17 > 0:46:19or in the Qur'an.
0:46:20 > 0:46:23As interest in Islam increases worldwide,
0:46:23 > 0:46:27so does understanding of its artistic traditions.
0:46:27 > 0:46:30In recent years, auction rooms and galleries around the world
0:46:30 > 0:46:32have moved away from calling it "Islamic art",
0:46:32 > 0:46:37and is more careful around terms such as "Muslim artists".
0:46:37 > 0:46:41Instead, this work is increasingly known by Sotheby's and others
0:46:41 > 0:46:43as "art of the Islamic world".
0:46:43 > 0:46:48At the same time, auction houses have seen in a boom in interest
0:46:48 > 0:46:50in art in the Islamic tradition.
0:46:52 > 0:46:56We've seen an explosion of interest in the auction world.
0:46:56 > 0:47:02It's partly pride on the part of Muslims, pride in their own heritage,
0:47:02 > 0:47:06and a desire to own important artworks
0:47:06 > 0:47:10produced by Muslim craftsmen and Muslim patrons
0:47:10 > 0:47:14over a period of 1,400 years.
0:47:14 > 0:47:17The interest also comes from other quarters, from non-Muslims -
0:47:17 > 0:47:23we have private collectors all across Europe and North America,
0:47:23 > 0:47:25and the Far East indeed,
0:47:25 > 0:47:28and then there are institutional projects -
0:47:28 > 0:47:31new museums who are looking to build
0:47:31 > 0:47:35collections of national and international importance.
0:47:36 > 0:47:40The buoyant market means galleries like this one in London
0:47:40 > 0:47:42are thriving - showing the work
0:47:42 > 0:47:46of a new generation of artists in the Islamic tradition.
0:47:46 > 0:47:51It's intriguing to see how they interpret figurative depiction,
0:47:51 > 0:47:53and to see the kind of imagery they are choosing.
0:47:53 > 0:47:55This is one of my personal favourites
0:47:55 > 0:47:57because what's quite magical about the piece
0:47:57 > 0:48:01is you have the alif and the laam and the meem
0:48:01 > 0:48:04but it also looks like a musical note.
0:48:04 > 0:48:07Reedah El Saie runs an art gallery in central London.
0:48:07 > 0:48:12It showcases works of many contemporary British Muslim artists.
0:48:12 > 0:48:14I think, post 9/11,
0:48:14 > 0:48:19there was a political shift towards understanding Islam -
0:48:19 > 0:48:21whether that was a negative or positive context,
0:48:21 > 0:48:24there was an interest there.
0:48:24 > 0:48:27That has had an impact on wider international
0:48:27 > 0:48:31and national Muslim identity, communities,
0:48:31 > 0:48:35and has impacted also art being produced by
0:48:35 > 0:48:37artists that are living in the Western world
0:48:37 > 0:48:41and their interpretation of sort of geopolitical sort of trends.
0:48:41 > 0:48:44So there's been a surge in the amount
0:48:44 > 0:48:46and quality of art being produced
0:48:46 > 0:48:48around that whole dialogue.
0:48:50 > 0:48:52Glimpses of the human figure can be found,
0:48:52 > 0:48:54but they don't dominate this gallery.
0:48:54 > 0:48:56They appear to respect the inheritance
0:48:56 > 0:49:00of an audience of Muslims, who prefer its art to steer away
0:49:00 > 0:49:03from depicting people with any kind of realism.
0:49:06 > 0:49:08One artist whose work consists of
0:49:08 > 0:49:10modern interpretations of calligraphy
0:49:10 > 0:49:13is reluctant to show her own face.
0:49:13 > 0:49:17I don't want it to be about me, I want my art to speak for itself.
0:49:17 > 0:49:20I don't want to be forefront of my art because I believe that
0:49:20 > 0:49:23my art should be good enough to speak for itself without me speaking.
0:49:23 > 0:49:27This artwork is all about breaking down barriers
0:49:27 > 0:49:31and overcoming your fears and not allowing your fears
0:49:31 > 0:49:36to stand in the way of what it is you may want to achieve.
0:49:36 > 0:49:39How I have made a hole in the canvas,
0:49:39 > 0:49:42it connotes the idea of breaking through
0:49:42 > 0:49:46and not allowing that barrier to stand in the way.
0:49:53 > 0:49:58The Kaaba in this painting represents an unseen reality,
0:49:58 > 0:50:01just as the Kaaba in reality does.
0:50:01 > 0:50:04For me, it represents going back into my own heart.
0:50:04 > 0:50:09There's a Sufi master from Morocco
0:50:09 > 0:50:12and he wrote, "Surely we are all meanings set up in images."
0:50:12 > 0:50:16That is something that
0:50:16 > 0:50:18has always affected all of my work.
0:50:22 > 0:50:25At the exhibition at the British Museum,
0:50:25 > 0:50:27this instinctive respect
0:50:27 > 0:50:30for the non-figurative tradition is also evident
0:50:30 > 0:50:32in the choice of composition, materials
0:50:32 > 0:50:36and imagery being used by the contemporary artists,
0:50:36 > 0:50:38showing their work inspired by the Hajj.
0:50:38 > 0:50:41Idris Khan's painting of the Kaaba
0:50:41 > 0:50:44invokes the transformation the journey to Mecca
0:50:44 > 0:50:46is supposed to bring about.
0:50:47 > 0:50:50The shape itself is based on the mosque in Mecca.
0:50:50 > 0:50:56I like this explosion of words out of a central form.
0:50:56 > 0:51:00The idea is to try and capture an emotional response
0:51:00 > 0:51:03to what it was like to leave the journey of Hajj, essentially.
0:51:06 > 0:51:09The actual structure of the piece is made up of different sentences
0:51:09 > 0:51:11and I guess, in a way, in the back of my mind,
0:51:11 > 0:51:15I was trying to find out what people leave Mecca with
0:51:15 > 0:51:17and what they're asking themselves.
0:51:17 > 0:51:21After having prayed in a certain direction
0:51:21 > 0:51:24for so many years of your life to this incredible,
0:51:24 > 0:51:25emotional black cube,
0:51:25 > 0:51:29what is it like when you're there, and then you leave?
0:51:29 > 0:51:30Does it change you?
0:51:30 > 0:51:34Especially when they're walking around an exhibition like this.
0:51:34 > 0:51:38They're looking at these incredible works about the journey of Hajj.
0:51:38 > 0:51:39As they come to the last piece
0:51:39 > 0:51:42maybe they're asking themselves those very questions.
0:51:42 > 0:51:44"Do I want to go to Hajj?
0:51:44 > 0:51:47"What have I learnt while I've been at this exhibition?"
0:51:47 > 0:51:50Somehow to try and capture that emotion in this drawing.
0:51:50 > 0:51:55There is something very nice in the repetition of picking a stamp up
0:51:55 > 0:51:58and stamping a wall directly with the sentences.
0:51:58 > 0:52:01Each time you're stamping, you're almost trying
0:52:01 > 0:52:04to trace the steps of perhaps someone walking towards the Kaaba.
0:52:04 > 0:52:07Starting in the centre and moving out.
0:52:07 > 0:52:11That creates incredible energy to the centre which is what the Kaaba is.
0:52:11 > 0:52:14This flow of emotion, this flow of people around it
0:52:14 > 0:52:16and towards it all the time.
0:52:21 > 0:52:23Ahmed Mater, a Saudi artist,
0:52:23 > 0:52:27has conceptualised this in his installation
0:52:27 > 0:52:30which he is setting up at the exhibition.
0:52:30 > 0:52:34A concept which is brilliantly simple and profound.
0:54:12 > 0:54:15It is simple art that reflects the profound
0:54:15 > 0:54:17nature of the Kaaba.
0:54:17 > 0:54:21This simple building that continues to be an inspiration
0:54:21 > 0:54:25to countless artists, and attracts more Muslims than ever.
0:54:25 > 0:54:29Muslims are no longer so dependent as they once were
0:54:29 > 0:54:32on depictions in figurative paintings
0:54:32 > 0:54:34to capture this enduring experience.
0:54:34 > 0:54:38It's what I find incredibly moving that that same
0:54:38 > 0:54:43spirit of wanting to go there, and to touch that sacred place,
0:54:43 > 0:54:46and the renewal and all of that,
0:54:46 > 0:54:47I find incredibly moving.
0:54:47 > 0:54:51It just literally doesn't seem to have changed at all.
0:54:51 > 0:54:54You may have been coming by camel at one point
0:54:54 > 0:54:57and by aeroplane now, but it hasn't changed.
0:54:57 > 0:55:01The essence doesn't appear to have changed at all.
0:55:01 > 0:55:04That's just looking at it from my perspective.
0:55:06 > 0:55:09Over the centuries the artistic traditions of Islam
0:55:09 > 0:55:12have embraced a wider range of art forms
0:55:12 > 0:55:14than has been generally recognised.
0:55:14 > 0:55:16And throughout Muslim history,
0:55:16 > 0:55:20this has included figurative art not usually associated with Muslims.
0:55:20 > 0:55:23It's revealing to see which of these visual styles
0:55:23 > 0:55:29emerge most commonly in the work of today's contemporary artists.
0:55:29 > 0:55:32The most common, recurring image is of the very place
0:55:32 > 0:55:36that first defined the Muslim approach to visual art.
0:55:42 > 0:55:46In some way the Kaaba itself is like a modernist sculpture in its form.
0:55:46 > 0:55:49This solid black box.
0:55:49 > 0:55:51I made steel cubes.
0:55:51 > 0:55:56The dimension of each cube is the dimension of the Kaaba.
0:55:56 > 0:55:59But chopped into 49 cubes.
0:55:59 > 0:56:03Seven times by seven times, exactly.
0:56:04 > 0:56:07Of course, as one walks around the Kaaba,
0:56:07 > 0:56:09they have to walk around seven times.
0:56:09 > 0:56:12It's made from steel, made from blue steel, then it's lacquered
0:56:12 > 0:56:17to give it a really shiny, jewel-like quality which I wanted.
0:56:17 > 0:56:22Then I sandblasted the daily prayer into each cube five times
0:56:22 > 0:56:26because obviously you're supposed to pray five times a day.
0:56:26 > 0:56:28Each cube is unique.
0:56:28 > 0:56:31They're done with five different segments of the prayer.
0:56:31 > 0:56:33You have to look at it in three different ways.
0:56:33 > 0:56:35You have to look at aesthetically.
0:56:35 > 0:56:38You have to look at it where it changes the way you think
0:56:38 > 0:56:40about a certain environment.
0:56:40 > 0:56:43And also whether it actually transports you
0:56:43 > 0:56:44back to a certain place.
0:56:44 > 0:56:48For me, it's about transporting me back to a certain time in my life.
0:56:48 > 0:56:52Therefore, when you're entering an incredible space like this
0:56:52 > 0:56:57and you see 49 steel cubes that are shaped in the same way as the Kaaba
0:56:57 > 0:57:01which the show is based on essentially,
0:57:01 > 0:57:05you're asking them to think about making links between now and then.
0:57:05 > 0:57:09Restrictions on acceptable forms of art,
0:57:09 > 0:57:13seen by many as limiting the output of artists in the Islamic tradition,
0:57:13 > 0:57:15appear here to be doing no such thing.
0:57:15 > 0:57:17The artists we've encountered
0:57:17 > 0:57:22are not constrained in expressing their artistic intentions
0:57:22 > 0:57:25within a framework that sets out clear boundaries.
0:57:25 > 0:57:30The rules they understand around figurative representation
0:57:30 > 0:57:33are informing, not constraining them.
0:57:33 > 0:57:35Today, artists in the Islamic tradition
0:57:35 > 0:57:39are creating art which has as much power as that of any artist.
0:57:43 > 0:57:46But now in Mecca, the surroundings of the Kaaba are changing.
0:57:46 > 0:57:49The Grand Mosque and its environment are part of a huge redevelopment
0:57:49 > 0:57:53of the city, as visitors reach record numbers
0:57:53 > 0:57:57and are set to rise even more in the years to come.
0:57:57 > 0:58:01But will artists of the future still continue to find inspiration here
0:58:01 > 0:58:04when the Kaaba itself appears to be on the verge
0:58:04 > 0:58:08of being dwarfed by its surroundings?
0:58:08 > 0:58:10Will these changes put at risk that simple beauty
0:58:10 > 0:58:13of this most important building, the Kaaba?
0:58:13 > 0:58:16Carrying as it does so much influence over the beliefs,
0:58:16 > 0:58:19the practice and the art of Islam?
0:58:32 > 0:58:36Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd