We welcome group bookings for our current exhibition at the MIAH Islamic Arts & Heritage Gallery in Balsall Heath, Birmingham: Fabric of Faith: the Arts & Textiles of the Hajj. This exhibition explores how the annual pilgrimage of Hajj has inspired pilgrims, artists and art over the centuries through historic artworks, textiles including a mahmal from the reign of Sultan Abdülhamid II and several kiswa from the Ka'ba, paintings of the Holy Sanctuaries, old photographs, ephemera, and the memorabilia of pilgrims. It covers the history and rituals of the Hajj as well as its influence on the arts.
SCHOOLS / GROUP EDUCATIONAL VISITS:
Do you want to bring your school or group to visit? We will be running interactive educational sessions for schools, educational groups and madrasas during the course of the exhibition. We welcome Home Ed groups. The sessions will include a short talk about the exhibition, followed by a supported session to explore the exhibition with additional learning and creative activities that are not available as part of the general exhibition. The sessions are suitable for ages 5/6 years +. We have different activity sheets for ages 6-9 years and 10 years+. You will be supported by a member of the MIAH staff who will lead the session, but to help pupils get the most out of the session, group leaders/parents may need to provide additional support for younger children in the case of mixed-age groups.
The allocated slots for educational visits are mainly on Thursdays 10:30am-12pm and 12:30pm-2pm (plus a few limited Saturdays) between 9th May and 26th June 2025 - you can see which slots are available on the registration link. Please note that due to the small size of our team, we are only able to accommodate a limited number of slots; they will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis.
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION: Bringing together objects from private collections to be displayed together for the first time, some of the highlights of the exhibition include: a stunning mahmal (processional palanquin), which accompanied the new kiswa for the Ka'ba and led the pilgrim caravan from Cairo to Makkah during the rule of the Ottoman Sultan, Abdülhamid II (r. 1876-1909); textiles from the holy sites in Makkah and Madinah, including an embroidered section of a kiswa from the Ka'ba dated 1796-7 and the kiswa of the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad; old photographs of pilgrims and the holy sanctuary; historical objects and artworks that were inspired by the holy sites, and a few selected contemporary works of art. These will be displayed alongside personal objects of memorabilia and ephemera from the local community.
COSTS:
We would like to thank the generous support of Al Tajir Trust. However, We still need to make a nominal charge towards the costs of additional space hire, materials and staff costs.
£60 for a group of up to 15 children / adults;
£85 for a group of up to 20 children / adults;
£140 for a group of up to 30 children / adults.
PLEASE NOTE: Children 3 years and under are not counted in the above totals but due to space limitations we cannot accommodate more than two pushchairs inside the gallery and the maximum group numbers are based on the number of places we can accommodate at the activity table. Group leader and parents/guardians should also be aware that there are lego and other small items out on the activity tables - younger children need to be supervised at all times.
