Reimagining Sacred Spaces: Curating the Diriyah Islamic Arts Biennale | Sumayya Vally
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.
The afikra Podcast
The afikra Podcast is our flagship series featuring experts from academia, art, media, urban planning, and beyond, who are helping document and shape the histories and cultures of the Arab world through their work.
