"Around the World" Revisits 'The Prophet's Journey' in Saudi Arabia

The exhibition Hijilla: Following in the Footsteps of the Prophet showcases a journey of adventure and adventure through historical artifacts, short documentaries, contemporary art creations and immersive audiovisual technology.

Saudi Arabia has long given the impression of one of the most closed and conservative countries in the world. It is both home to the Islamic holy sites of Mecca and Medina and dominates the global oil market; It is not only a traditional desert kingdom, but also plays a pivotal role in the world political arena. Since 2016, Mohammad bin Salman has been pushing for a series of reforms in the kingdom, proposing a blueprint for the future, Vision 2030, which includes six major issues: cities, tourism, housing, culture, energy and health. Salman declared to the people that the country must change its dependence on oil, and the Vision emphasized the need for the state to promote the development of the private sector and the development of culture and art.

The most prominent cultural project of Vision 2030 is the King Abdulaziz World Cultural Centre (Ithra), which opened in 2018. The cultural center was founded by Saudi Aramco, which operates oil and gas, and is located in Dhahran, where the company is headquartered. "Ithra" means "rich" in Arabic, and this "rich" world cultural center launched "The Hijrah Exhibition: In the Footsteps of the Prophet" in early August this year, which presents the historical content of "Hijrah" with historical artifacts, documentary films, newly commissioned contemporary art works, and the latest immersive audiovisual technology. Dr. Ashraf Ehsan Fagih, head of the centre's project department, said: "The aim of the exhibition is to attract a general audience, whether they are Muslims or not. ”

1400 years ago, the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad, set out from Mecca for Medina. This journey is called "Hijra", which means "migration". The 400-kilometer journey of Hijira lasted eight days. It is the "mother of all migrations" in Islamic culture and has had a significant and far-reaching impact on the social, political and economic aspects of the entire Arabian Peninsula.

The story begins when the Prophet Muhammad spread Islam in Mecca after his apocalypse, and the local tribes believed that he threatened their power and wanted to drive him away, even to get rid of him quickly, especially the powerful Guraishi tribe. The Gulaish controlled Mecca and used the area as a center of trade and idolatry. Muhammad, however, opposed idolatry because depicting human form would undermine the uniqueness of the one true God. Forced into exile, he was forced to cross the desert with his companions on a journey full of adventures and adventures.

ad

The ingenuity of the curators

About "Hijra", in addition to historical records, there are also various folklore. Dr. Idries Trevathan, curator of the World Cultural Center, studied in detail the earliest and most considerable historical sources and a large number of folklore before preparing the exhibition. He found that there was a great difference between historical sources and legends, not only the route of "Hijira" was inconsistent, but sometimes even the content was contradictory. As a result, the center hired Dr. Al Qadhi, the world's most recognized and important biographer of Muhammad. Abdullah Hussein Alkadi) as a consultant. Dr. Trevitan and Dr. Arcadi personally visited the route and photographed the entire route using drones and infrared devices.

They finally decided to divide the exhibition into eight parts according to the eight-day journey of "Hijira", so that all who came to the exhibition could follow in the footsteps of the prophet and recognize what he saw and heard. The exhibition also includes a modern map of the route of the "Hijra", the location of the Prophet, and the trade routes of the major caravans of the time, providing detailed and vivid historical information for this period of history. Not only that, Dr. Trevitán hopes to explore "cultural memory" in the exhibition, that is, the modern people's understanding and interpretation of this history. Therefore, the center commissioned contemporary artists to interpret their understanding of "Hijira" with artistic creation, and to recount this historical event 1400 years ago in a contemporary context.

The Journey of the Prophet

The first exhibition hall tells the beginning of "Hijra", a short video of about 7 minutes about the decision of the Quraish to send Assassins to assassinate Muhammad. When the Assassins arrived at Muhammad's house, they heard that there were women and children in the house, and the Assassins, fearing that this would bring shame to the people of the tribe, did not want to enter the house, so they waited outside for Muhammad. As Muhammad left the house, sand was sprinkled on the Assassins' heads, and they could not see the target, allowing Muhammad to flee.

He then hid with his companion Abu Bakr in a cave on Mount Thawr, 8 kilometers south of Mecca. According to legend, in order to protect them, two pigeons flew outside the cave to incubate eggs, and spiders spit silk to cover the hole. The Assassins saw the cobwebs and the pigeons hatching the eggs, believing that there could be no one in the cave, and Muhammad once again escaped the attack. The exhibition hall is a replica of the Taur Cave and the recording of the recitation of scriptures by sheikh Nurayn, a famous Sudanese reciter who died a few years ago.

Muhammad hid in the cave for two days. On the third day, September 12, 622 AD, before sunrise, he and his companions left the Cave of Taul. This day is the first day of "Hijira". Their guides at the foot of Mount Taul and familiar with the terrain between Mecca and Medina meet and lead them along winding secret paths full of steep valleys and lava. They arrived at noon the next day in the tent of a woman named Umm Ma'bad on the west side of the Qudayd valley. It hadn't rained for a long time, and all the goats were sick. Umabad was embarrassed because she could not provide any goat's milk. Muhammad touched the goat, and a miracle happened, and the sheep squeezed out enough milk to feed the Umabad family and the passing travelers. After Muhammad left, Umabad told her husband about Muhammad's miracles. This story is often mentioned in the history of Islam and is recorded in the sunnah.

Accordingly, tents made by the indigenous Berbers of North Africa are set up in the exhibition hall, and sandals worn by Muhammad are reproduced according to the description of the 13th-century Moroccan hadith scholar Ibn 'Asakir. Inside the booth was a calligraphy that Nuria Garcia Masip completed last year. Masip copied the narrative of Umabad in a solemn naskh script, embellished with milky white paper and golden geometric patterns around the text. The calligrapher prominently places Muhammad's name in the center of the calligraphy, all the writing is surrounded by a crescent moon (hilal) representing the Symbol of Islam, and the four corners are written with the names of the four great "caliphs", namely the names of The four heirs of Muhammad. Masip mentions that she visualized Umabad's narrative through calligraphy, using the "thuluth" (triune) that was often used in mosques in the Middle Ages to integrate the calligraphy into a single image.

Since the Quraish offered a reward of 100 camels to capture Muhammad, whether alive or dead, Muhammad was constantly hunted down by bounty hunters along the way. American director Ovidio Salazar made several short films along the route of "Hijira", one of which depicts the story of the bounty hunter Suraka. Surakha, a highly skilled rider, caught up with Muhammad the day after "Hijra", but with the blessing of miracles, Sulaka's mount suddenly sank into the sand as he approached Muhammad, unable to move. Moreover, while Muhammad was within range of Suraqa, Suraqa's hand was suddenly paralyzed and unable to shoot arrows. Surakhar was inspired by miracles and decided to follow Islam. The film is reminiscent of the classic Hollywood Western, and the director uses anamorphic lenses to increase the depth of field, and the audience's vision is completely immersed in this wonderful plot.

Stopping by the Ruins

The exhibition continues along time and route, with adventure stories and adventures along the way. Most notably, The Arab artist Hind Al Ghamdi's Stopping by the Ruins. The title of the work comes from the beginning of a poem by Imru Al Quays, a poet before the founding of Islam, who mentions stopping to reflect on a ruin in the desert. Cynder felt this and began to look for new life from the ruins and the paths that had been walked by his predecessors. She combined the poem with the poems of other pre-Islamic poets to form a group of "al-Mu'allaqāt" that illustrate the Arabic literary tradition. "Hanging poems" refer to poems hanging in the "kaaba" of the Mosque of Mecca (also known as the Forbidden Mosque), and Scholars of Islamic culture also believe that this term refers to the poems that the poet has in mind. In addition to showing the unique characteristics of Islamic literature, the form and content of the poem reflect on the history and memory of "Hijira" along the way.

On the last day of the journey, on September 19, 622 AD, Muhammad arrived at the outskirts of Quba'a, 2 miles south of Yathrib (present-day Medina), the last day of the "Hijra". For this final chapter, Zahra Al Ghamdi, an artist who represented Saudi Arabia at the Venice Biennale in 2019, created Brotherhood. Zahra focused on his companions with Muhammad and all the people they met and assisted them on their way. "Brotherhood" conveys the hardships experienced in the process of migration and presents the kindness and selflessness of the facilitators. The greatest feature of this work is the combination of the elasticity of the fabric and the softness of the clay. She knotted the fabric and soaked it in mud, then hung the solidified fabric on the wall like a tapestry. At a glance, the work is like a tree root growing and thriving, symbolizing the power of brotherhood and ending the exhibition.

The "Hijra" exhibition combines elements of historical materials, art and entertainment, especially the visual presentation of the entire route of "Hijra", which really brings visitors closer to the most important migration history of Islamic culture.

When I received an invitation from a curator, I was hesitant to accept it. Like many of my friends, I had a lot of thoughts about the mysterious country of Saudi Arabia, but I decided to go and see it. This decision was the right one, because this mysterious kingdom that is in the midst of metamorphosis is indeed an eye-opener, and I am delighted to be here to witness its changes, to hear the voices of the locals, and to gain a deeper understanding of the rich connotations of Islamic culture. The country is slowly but visibly opening up, and it is believed that ambitious cultural events like the "Hijira" exhibition will attract more people to visit this mysterious land.