About Us
The Barakat Trust was founded as a UK charity in 1987 and operates for educational and heritage purposes focusing on the heritage of the Islamic world. We provide scholarships and grants for study and research projects at the world’s most respected academic and cultural institutions at post-graduate and post-doctoral level. We support conservation and documentation work, travel for research and education, training programmes, including the training of conservation professionals and curators. We fund publications, and the digitisation of significant collections, and support other projects that preserve the heritage of the Islamic world, raise awareness, and engage with diverse audiences.
We work in partnership with a wide range of institutions who share common interests. Our partners range in scale from huge national institutions, like the British Museum, The Victoria and Albert Museum, the Islamic Arts Museum in Malaysia, to cultural, research and academic institutions, professional organisations, and historians, archaeologists, conservators, curators, and others.
Over the past 30 years, we have invested resources in building the skills of heritage professionals and supporting projects in 40 countries. Many of our grantees have long-standing relationships with The Trust, developed over decades. On the other hand, we are open and welcome new partnerships, new ideas, and new generations.
The Barakat Trust is an international non-political, non-religious, non-sectarian and independent charity based in the United Kingdom.
The aims of the charity are:
a) Intellectual Excellence; support, nurture and promote study and scholarship of Islamic art history, architecture and archaeology.
b) Preservation of Heritage; conserve the material culture of the Islamic world and elevate the level of curation and skills in conservation. To further make the material culture of the Islamic world more accessible through digital and other means.
c) Create Awareness; provide a platform for cross cultural understanding and tolerance across the world by promoting the findings, research and project outputs and study of Islamic culture.
d) Sustainable growth & development; develop effective long terms partnerships and sustain current and future aims of The Trust.
Projects
Ottoman endowment deeds
In 2010 the Barakat Trust endowed Aysin Yoltar-Yildirim with a grant to assist her in study and conservation of an important group of endowment deeds belonging to thirteen Ottoman women. This was the subject of a successful exhibition which was set up in the Ankara Museum of Foundations in May [...]
Kids Camp: Islamic Miniatures & Noble Sports
Our Kids Camp: Islamic Miniatures & Noble Sports workshops introduced young children in London to the wonderful world of Islamic miniatures and the noble sports of the golden age of the Islamic. The educational materials and workshops were funded by Amal and the Royal Borough of Kensington's Grenfell Fund. [...]
Islamic Baydha Archaeological Excavation Video
Enjoy the video of the Islamic Baydha Archaeological Excavation Project in Petra, Jordan supported by The Barakat Trust. The Islamic Bayda Project includes a training programme in archaeological fieldwork, designed for Jordanian and international trainees.
The Architecture of the Veil – Damascene Houses
'Damascene Houses - preserving the memory of an architectural wonder'. In 2017-18, Augustus Lersten was awarded a grant for the production of a video on 'Damascene Houses' - Interior dimensions, architecture, and the cultural nuances and stories that these houses carry and what they mean to Syrian people. [...]
Shuqayra Conservation Project
Shuqayra Conservation Project: Phase I, West-Central Jordan, 2017. Grantee: ZAKARIYAN.BENBADHANN NA’IMAT, Islamic Archaeology Research Unit at the University of Bonn, Germany About the project: The project undertook three main tasks: 1) a detailed artistic and architectural documentation of the mosaic pavement, 2) a complete diagnosis of the current state of preservation [...]
Power and Protection: Islamic Art and the Supernatural
This catalogue, Power and Protection: Islamic Art and the Supernatural deals with the entirety of the Muslim world with a total emphasis on pre-Modern Islamic cultures through the lens of visual and material culture. It contextualises the art work in three essays reflecting the thematic divisions adopted in the exhibition. [...]
Creswell’s Cairo photographs: a project to enhance the Creswell photographic archive at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Grantee: Omniya Abdel Barr Date: 2016 The Barakat Trust funded the “Creswell’s Cairo Photographs” project with a senior visiting scholarship in 2016-2017. The project focused on enhancing the Creswell photographic archive of Cairo at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A). The work is allowing this important photographic collection to be [...]
Grantee Profile
Noorah Al-Gailani
Noorah Al-Gailani has been Curator of Islamic Civilisations at Glasgow Museums since 2003. She is based at the Burrell Collection but works across the city’s many museums to interpret Islamic art and culture, both ancient and modern, through research, exhibitions and a variety of educational activities and public events. [...]
Utrero Agudo
Since 2017, I am Tenured Researcher at the Escuela de Estudios Árabes (Granada), institute that belongs to the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC, Spain). After obtaining myPhD in Prehistory and Archaeology (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 2005), I was 2-year MEC-postdoctoral fellow at the Museum of London Archaeology Service (MoLAS, [...]
Hossam Mahdy
Hossam Mahdy is an Egyptian and British freelance consultant and researcher on the conservation of built heritage. He acquired his PhD from the University of Glasgow, UK; MSc from University of Leuven, Belgium; and BSc from Ain Shams University, Egypt. His work focuses on Islamic views on the conservation of [...]
Omniya Abdel Barr
Omniya Abdel Barr is an architect with experience in urban conservation, monument restoration and cultural heritage documentation and digitisation. Her work is focused on Mamluk art and architecture in Egypt. She holds a PhD in history from Aix-Marseille University (2015), an MSc in Conservation from Raymond Lemaire Center in KUL [...]
Media
Departures Exhibition Featured in Arab News
Departures: A Photographic Journey Through The Islamic World an exhibition organised by The Barakat Trust and Asia House receives coverage in Arab News in an article entitled "Images of Syria's Destroyed Heritage Feature in London Exhibition That 'Journeys' through the Islamic World". You can read the article here.
Islamic Baydha Archaeological Excavation Featured in Jordan Times
Dr Micaela Sinibaldi, director of the archaeological excavations taking place in al-Baydha, Jordan, supported by The Barakat Trust is interviewed in Jordan Times. Read the article here. Image courtesy of Dr. Micaela Sinibaldi.
The Wells of Memory
One of the first travelers in a century to walk through the Hejaz desert of Saudi Arabia, Paul Salopek encounters a fabled past of caravans and pilgrims, of empires come and gone. He encounters cultural preservationists including trustees of The Barakat Trust. More »
Arab News
Arab News has consistently featured the growth and evolution of the Barakat Trust from its early years to the present day. More »
Arab London
Barakat Culture Vulture Kids Camp was featured in Arab London. More »
Art & Patronage – The Middle East by Thames & Hudson
The Barakat Trust was featured in 'Art & Patronage The Middle East' published by Thames & Hudson. More »
Harpers Bazaar Arabia featuring Barakat Trustee
Abir Dajani Tuqan takes Bazaar on a journey through a rich and textured life that includes an enviable collection of fashion moments More »
News
Islamic Baydha Archaeological Excavation Video
Enjoy the video of the Islamic Baydha Archaeological Excavation Project in Petra, Jordan supported by The Barakat Trust. The Islamic Bayda Project includes a training programme [...]
Departures Exhibition Featured in Arab News
Departures: A Photographic Journey Through The Islamic World an exhibition organised by The Barakat Trust and Asia House receives coverage in Arab News in an article entitled "Images of Syria's [...]
Islamic Baydha Archaeological Excavation Featured in Jordan Times
Dr Micaela Sinibaldi, director of the archaeological excavations taking place in al-Baydha, Jordan, supported by The Barakat Trust is interviewed in Jordan Times. Read the article here. Image courtesy of [...]
The Architecture of the Veil – Damascene Houses
'Damascene Houses - preserving the memory of an architectural wonder'. In 2017-18, Augustus Lersten was awarded a grant for the production of a video on 'Damascene Houses' - [...]