SUMAYYA VALLY | Curating the 1st Islamic Arts Biennale | Conversations

What was it like curating the 1st Diriyah Islamic Arts Biennale? And how do you capture the essence of a place that is in the hearts and minds of Muslims around the world? Sumayya Vally talks to us about her personal relationship with Saudi Arabia, suspended geographies, adding to the Islamic Art canon, and reimagining Jeddah’s Western Hajj Terminal as an exhibition space. She talks us through it from the very conceptualization of the Diriyah Islamic Arts Biennale in Saudi Arabia to individual pieces that caught Mikey’s attention when he attended the opening. We also touch on what it’s like letting go of a creative project once it has come to fruition, with Sumayya likening the process to post-partum depression. Lastly, we hear about what Sumayya and her research and architecture practice, Counterspace, are working on now.

Sumayya Vally is an award-winning architect from South Africa. In 2022, the World Economic Forum chose her as one of its Young Global Leaders. She has been featured as a TIME100 Next List Honoree. Vally is also on the board of directors for the World Monuments Fund and is the founder of Counterspace, a research and architecture practice. 

In 2019, Counterspace was chosen to design the 20th Serpentine Pavilion in London. This made Vally the youngest architect to ever win this prestigious commission. Finally, Vally worked as artistic director for the very first Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah that ran from January through to April of 2023. 

Created & hosted by Mikey Muhanna, afikra 

Edited by: Ramzi Ramman

Theme music by: Tarek Yamani https://www.instagram.com/tarek_yamani/

About Outline:

Outline is a process-focused conversation that looks at guests’ individual projects rather than their full bodies of work. The conversation sketches the journey of the project; the spark of curiosity that led to the project, the process of implementing the idea, the struggles that emerged throughout the implementation, and the aftermath of the project that includes new questions and new ideas. The name “Outline” stems from the idea of creating a retroactive project outline which is part of a broader emphasis on the process of curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking from a nuts and bolts perspective. Outline is not discipline-specific; the series will be held with artists, academics, writers, filmmakers, among others. Join the live audience: https://www.afikra.com/rsvp   

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About afikra:‎

afikra is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region- past, present, and future - through conversations driven by curiosity. 
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ABOUT AFIKRA
afikra | عفكرة is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region – past, present and future – through conversations driven by curiosity.
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