This isn’t a fully comprehensive list of finalists for the Jameel Prize at the V&A, just the ones I found particularly intriguing.
Trained in the art of miniature painting, Wardha Shabbir enters a meditative state when producing these pieces: she really does paint with a single-haired brush for some details. I loved the way the birds escape the confines of the closely clipped hedges to fly over the walls
Younes Rahmoun works with numbers, in this case 77 recycled wool hand-knitted hats, traditionally worn by ordinary Moroccan men to show their faith. Each hat is lit and connected to all the others, becoming one cable and facing towards Mecca.
The other joint-winner of the prize, Mehdi Moutashar is the eldest of the group showing and left Iraq in the late 1960s to live in France. His work is influenced by the minimalism of the ’60s combined with Islamic traditions of complex geometry and script.
The pieces are often three dimensional so don’t reveal their power in a photo. For example in the image above the same square is both on the wall and folded between wall and floor.
