Cairo: An exhibition underway in the Saudi capital Riyadh displays 42 rare copies of Quran highlighting diversity of Islamic calligraphy and embellishment.
Organised by the King Abdul Aziz Public Library, the show is being held at the institution’s branch at the King Abdul Aziz Centre in Riyadh’s Al Muraba Quarter.
Opening the event, the library’s supervisor-general Faisal Abdul Rahman said the exhibit features a “distinguished” collection of the library’s acquisitions of rare gilded and embellished copies of the book.
“The value of this exhibit lies in shedding light on arts of embellishment and gilding as well as different schools of embellishing the Holy Quran,” he added.
“It is part of the library’s cultural programme that focuses on holding thematic exhibitions on national, religious and cultural occasions inside and outside the kingdom,” said the official.
For 40 years, the King Abdul Aziz Public Library has given particular attention to showcasing Islamic and Arab heritage through acquisitions of rare photos, miniatures and manuscripts.
The library organised an exhibition on annual Islamic Hajj pilgrimage at the British Museum, the Paris-based Arab World Institute.
In 2007, the library produced a film on Hajj shown at a large number of theatres around the world.
Other exhibitions, Abdul Rahman noted, focused on Arabic poetry and calligraphy.
Ramadan usually marks the peak season of Umrah or minor pilgrimage at the Grand Mosque, Islam’s holiest site, in the Saudi city of Mecca.
Muslims from around the world would flock in Ramadan to Saudi Arabia, Islam’s birthplace, to perform Umrah and prayers at the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque – Islam’s two holiest places.
