In honor of His Royal Highness Prince Turki Al-Faisal… celebrating the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Jameel Exhibition of Islamic Arts at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London

Today, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Community Jameel, and Art Jameel celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the Jameel exhibition within the museum’s corridors, celebrating two decades of the launch of this cultural space that contributed to a qualitative shift in the methods of displaying Islamic art, highlighting its implications, and deepening the public’s understanding of the creations of Islamic civilization.
Community Jameel marked this occasion by holding a special reception hosted by the Victoria and Albert Museum, in the presence of His Royal Highness Prince Turki Al Faisal, His Royal Highness Prince Abdullah bin Khalid bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United Kingdom, Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel, founder of Community Jameel, Fadi Jameel, Hassan Jameel, Hisham Hamzah, and Ghada Al Samnoudi.
During the ceremony, Mr. Mohammed Jameel, in his speech, thanked and appreciated His Royal Highness Prince Turki Al-Faisal and His Royal Highness Prince Abdullah bin Khalid bin Sultan for attending the ceremony. He also thanked the Saudi Ministry of Culture for its great efforts in reviving traditional arts in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
George Richards, Director of Community Jameel, also announced that this year’s anniversary celebration of the opening of “Exhibition Jameel” has been approved as the official opening event in the lead-up to the “British-Saudi Year of Culture 2029.”
The Jameel Gallery opened in July 2006 following a comprehensive development and refurbishment project supported by the Jameel family, reintroducing the Victoria and Albert Museum’s world-famous collection of masterpieces of Islamic art from the Middle East. The exhibition also presented an innovative museum vision for displaying collectibles and explaining their meanings to the public, combining contemporary exhibition design, display cabinets specially designed to display collectibles, advanced lighting systems, and multimedia technologies, allowing visitors to interact more deeply with one of the most prominent collections of Islamic art in the world.
The Jameel Gallery collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum includes more than 400 pieces of art ranging from ceramics, textiles, carpets, metalwork, woodwork, glass, and manuscripts, most notably the famous Ardabil carpet, the pulpit of Sultan Qaytbay, and a rock crystal jug dating back to the Fatimid era. In a beautiful exhibition, these collections are presented not only as historical evidence, but as chapters in a broader narrative that tells the story of artistic exchange, craftsmanship, and the spirit of creativity that flourished throughout the Islamic world.
In the midst of the exhibition’s renovation work, the Jameel family provided its support for an international touring exhibition that included selections from the most prominent collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, with the aim of making them available to a wider audience around the world. During the period between 2004 and 2006, the exhibition “The Palace and the Mosque: Masterpieces of Islamic Art at the Victoria and Albert Museum” toured a number of the most prominent international museums, including the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, the Kimball Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, the Setagaya Art Museum in Tokyo, Japan, and the Millennium Galleries in Sheffield, England.
Over the past two decades, the partnership between the Jameel family and the Victoria and Albert Museum has expanded beyond the scope of the Jameel permanent exhibition, and has become an essential pillar of support for contemporary art commissions, acquisitions, fellowship programmes, research, public events and digital initiatives, within the framework of a vision to connect historical collections with contemporary artistic practices, and enhance their presence with new and diverse segments of audiences.
The Jameel Prize is one of the main pillars of this cooperation, as it was launched by the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2009 as an international award concerned with contemporary art and design inspired by Islamic culture, history, societies and ideas, and is organized in partnership with Art Jameel. Over the course of its seven sessions, the award displayed the works of 63 artists and designers from around the world, and its exhibitions traveled to 22 global destinations, embodying the impact of Islamic cultural traditions in inspiring and enriching contemporary creative practices.
In addition, the Jameel Fellowship program provides artists, designers, architects, photographers and researchers with opportunities to conduct extensive research using the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum. The program provides artistic residencies for local and international artists from the Middle East and members of the Arab and Islamic communities in the diaspora, allowing them to see the behind-the-scenes of work inside the museum, closely study its collections and archives, and explore new research paths that enrich their creative practices. Fellows of the program also displayed their work through art exhibitions, performances, and specialized seminars, in addition to the “Hidden Gems” film series, which allows them to showcase the piece of art closest to their hearts in a beautiful exhibition. Program fellow Adam Rouhana is currently studying the Victoria and Albert Museum’s extensive collection of photographs documenting the history of Palestine.
Jameel Gallery has also become a lively platform for temporary performances and contemporary art projects that highlight the richness and diversity of Islamic artistic heritage. One of the most prominent exhibitions hosted recently is the “Embroidery: Palestinian Embroidery” exhibition, which brings together historical Palestinian costumes from the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum and contemporary artworks by artist Aya Haidar and artist Zaid Hijazi, exploring the art of embroidery as a living artistic heritage and an expression of the authenticity of cultural identity.
To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the opening of the Jameel Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum organized a packed program of events and activities, including temporary exhibitions, conferences and public events.
Earlier this year, the museum hosted the “Khayamiya: Egyptian Tents Making” exhibition, which brought together an elite group of the most skilled traditional tent makers from Cairo’s historic Khayamiya Street, to provide live performances and interactive workshops to audiences in London.
In June 2026, the museum opened the exhibition “Golden Threads: Fashion from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” which is a temporary exhibition within a beautiful exhibition that includes a rare collection of royal costumes dating back to the early twentieth century, which the museum recently acquired, highlighting the ingenuity of traditional crafts, regional identity, and the cultural connotations of Saudi fashion.
On July 17, 2026, the Victoria and Albert Museum hosted the conference “The Museum Landscape of Islamic Art: Jameel Gallery’s 20th Anniversary Conference,” which brought together an elite group of museum professionals, curators, and art historians from major international institutions, to discuss the evolution of methods for displaying and interpreting Islamic art in museums over the past two decades.
Later this year, at the London Design Festival, Uzbek artist Aziza Qadri will unveil a large-scale installation created specifically for Jameel Gallery.
This work takes inspiration from rare embroidery pieces from the Victoria and Albert Museum’s collection, most of which have never been displayed before the public, and embodies them through textile sculptures, hand-embroidered pendants, and interactive digital elements.
On this occasion, His Royal Highness Prince Turki Al-Faisal said: “In my capacity as an ambassador to Her Majesty the late Queen Elizabeth II, and during that period when His Royal Highness, the then Prince of Wales, honored me by appointing me as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts, which is the greatest privilege and honor I have enjoyed during my career as an ambassador, my friend Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel invited me twenty years ago to attend the opening of the Jameel Exhibition.
Since then, Mr. Jameel has continued his successful career, and his initiatives have witnessed many positive developments. Today, under the patronage of His Majesty King Charles III, relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom are witnessing continued prosperity, as His Majesty plays the role of the main link between the two countries.”
Speaking at the reception, Fady Jameel, Family Ambassador to Community Jameel, and Chairman and Founder of Art Jameel, said: “The Jameel exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum embodies the Jameel family’s steadfast commitment to supporting Islamic art and celebrating its rich legacy. Over the past two decades, the exhibition has established its position as a leading platform for research, interaction with the public, and contemporary creative practices, stressing that ancient artistic traditions are not a static legacy, but rather a living heritage that continues to develop and inspire successive generations over time. Through my family’s partnership with the Victoria and Albert Museum, along with Community Jameel’s broader efforts to support traditional arts and crafts, we will continue to work on building effective partnerships that contribute to preserving these traditions and ensuring that they continue to reach new and diverse audiences around the world.”
Sir Tristram Hunt, Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, said: “We can only express our deep gratitude to the Jameel family for their generous support, without which the Jameel exhibition would not have been created at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2006. Today, as it enters its twentieth year, the exhibition continues to consolidate its position as one of the museum’s most attractive and admired spaces for visitors, as it includes 400 pieces of masterpieces of Islamic art from the Middle East, which are available to everyone free of charge. “The Jameel Program at the Victoria and Albert Museum represents a valuable opportunity to explore and celebrate the artistic and design creativity of the Middle East and North Africa region, and our curators are pleased to present an expanded program of activities this year to celebrate this important milestone in the exhibition’s history.”
The collaboration between Community Jameel and the King Foundation School of Traditional Arts extends for nearly 20 years, and includes the Jameel Homes for Traditional Arts Initiative, a network of traditional crafts schools with branches in Cairo and Jeddah, in addition to its branch in Dumfries House in Scotland, the headquarters of the King Foundation.
Community Jameel’s commitment to supporting traditional arts in the Arab world stems from an integrated vision that harmonizes the preservation of ancient design and craft practices and ensuring their continuity, and empowering traditional artists and craftsmen through practical training and providing job opportunities, in a way that guarantees them sustainable livelihoods. This trend constitutes one of Community Jameel’s strategic priorities in light of the worsening youth employment crisis in the Arab world.
Through the Jameel Gallery and the wider Jameel Program at the Victoria and Albert Museum, this partnership continues its role in supporting academic studies, promoting cultural exchange, nurturing contemporary creativity, and broadening public engagement with the rich artistic heritage of the Islamic world.
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