Heritage
A selection of reports on the heritage projects we have supported and funded in the field of Islamic Art, Heritage and Culture since we were founded in 1987
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Madhavi Rao
Finance and Operations Manager Madhavi is a qualified professional, a member of the Institute of Cost and Works accountants of India and CIMA Adv Dip MA. She has 20 years of experience working both in India and UK. During her training years she has worked with Indian Oil Corporation-Bombay, Essar projects-Gujarat. After moving to UK, she worked in the corporate sector for a few years, thereupon deciding to move to the Nonprofit sector. She has 10 years [...]
Aga Khan Award for Architecture – A new podcast with Farrokh Derakhshani
Join Farrokh Derakhshani for an inside look into the 2022 Aga Khan Award for Architecture, one of the most prestigious architectural awards in the world. Find out how one is awarded this notable prize, hear about the latest winners, and learn how the creation of the award changed the understanding [...]
Matthew Barnett
Finance Matthew Barnett is an accountant with experience in charities and nonprofits as well as businesses. In the four years he has been with The Barakat Trust, he has developed a strong interest in the countries and cultures in which The Barakat Trust operates. finance@barakat.org
News: Diriyah Biennale Foundation announces Hajj Terminal in Jeddah as the location for first-ever Islamic Arts Biennale
Curatorial Team from left to right: Sumayya Vally, Dr. Julian Raby, Dr. Saad Alrashid, Dr. Omniya Abdel Barr, Diriyah Biennale Foundation Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, 6 June 2022: The Diriyah Biennale Foundation (DBF) is proud to announce that the inaugural edition of the Islamic Arts Biennale will take place at [...]
San Giovanni dei Lebbrosi
During 2014 to 2015 a team led by Mr. Agudo and Mr Mandala performed an excavation of San Giovanni dei Lebbrosi, one of the earliest Norman churches in Sicily. They were funded by the Barakat Trust (2015) and the Spanish Ministry of Culture (2014-2015) The church is in Palermo [...]
Abbasid painting of the Caliphal Palace of Samarra, Iraq
Fatma Dahmani is a Barakat Trust postdoctoral fellow. Her original project was focused solely on the Abbasid painting of the Caliphal Palace of Samarra and the extent to which it is an original piece. After having conducted further research into the broader city more things caught her eye. This included [...]
Barakat Trust Final Report – Sadra Zekrgoo
In April 2016, Sadra Zekgroo was given a grant in order to travel to Iran from Melbourne, Australia to interview artists and master calligraphers on the subject of traditional Persian ink making, buying ingredients needed for making traditional Persian inks and gathering recipes, treatises and relevant reference books which would [...]
Perspectives on Early Islamic Art in Jerusalem
Lawrence Nees is the current H.Fletcher Brown Chair of Humanities holder at the University of Delaware. He received a grant from the Trust to help publish his book Perspectives on Early Islamic Art in Jerusalem which was released in 2016. His book is a very detailed yet also user friendly [...]
Magic and Divination in Malay Illustrated Manuscripts
This book offers an integrated study of the texts and images of illustrated Malay manuscripts on magic and divination from private and public collections in Malaysia, the UK and Indonesia. Containing some of the rare examples of Malay painting, these manuscripts provide direct evidence for the intercultural connections between the [...]
Reframing the Alhambra: Architecture, Poetry, Textiles and Court Ceremonial
The Nasrid builders of the Alhambra - the best-preserved medieval Muslim palatial city - were so exacting that some of their work could not be fully explained until the invention of fractal geometry. Their design principles have been obscured, however, by the loss of all archival material. This book resolves [...]