Hands On Islamic Art Project – Congratulations Grant Winner!

We have some exciting news: our grants committee have made their decisions.

It’s time to start announcing the grant-winners of this year’s Hands On Islamic Art Project, sponsored by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Three fantastic projects have been chosen, and this is one of them…

Congratulations to Leighton House and the Arab British Centre!

Their innovative project will weave links between the masterful art of Islamic textiles and the human experiences of those engaged with them, from the historic Islamic world to today’s Britain.

This project will allow visitors to engage with the art in thrilling new ways, even getting to create artwork for the collection itself in response to the historic pieces! The wonderful textile artist Nour Hage will offer her skills and help learners practice this charming art form with their very own hands.

The collaboration will use the gorgeous setting of Leighton House, famous for its dazzling Arab Hall with antique tiles collected by Lord Leighton from Iznik, Damascus, and Persia. A true hidden treasure of London… if you haven’t been before, add it to your bucket list! The project will let people engage with Leighton House’s newly acquired textile collection, which will help restore the textile-dappled atmosphere of the house as it was in Lord Leighton’s day. This exciting programme will break down barriers between the local community and the museum, sparking the joy of history and art in people old and new to the subject.

We are very excited about this first addition to the project, and we look forward to working with the team at Leighton House and the Arab British Centre! Well done!

The Arab British Centre is a charity dedicated to bettering understanding of the Arab World in the UK, and Leighton House is an art museum and historic home in London.

Through the Hands On Islamic Art Project, the Barakat Trust will work with three projects each year to help engage the British public with Islamic art and heritage, highlighting this country’s fantastic collections.