Prince Shāh Karim al-Husayni, known as His Highness the Aga Khan outside Ismaili Muslim communities, and by the religious title Mawlana Hazar Imam to Ismaili communities was born on 13 December 1936 and is the 49th and current Imam of Nizari Ismailism, a denomination of Isma'ilism within Shia Islam. He has held this position of Imam, under the title of Aga Khan IV, since 11 July 1957, when, at the age of 20, he succeeded his grandfather, Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan III. Aga Khan claims to be a direct lineal descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, Ali, considered the first Imam in Shia Islam, and Ali's wife Fatima az-Zahra, Muhammad's daughter from his first marriage. Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan III in his memoirs explicitly states "The Prophet died without appointing a Caliph or successor." Aga Khan III further states in his memoirs that the Shias’ had a "need (for) Divine guidance" after the Prophet of Islam's death. This need of the Shias’ manifested in their belief system for the Institution of the Imamate. Thus, after the death of Prophet of Islam, the Shias’ established the Institute of the Imamate. According to the Aga Khan III as mentioned in his memoirs, he has actual "Divine power, guidance, and leadership (authority)" The Institution of Imamate has continued to present day with the Aga Khan IV as the 49th Imam of the Ismaili Muslim Community. The Aga Khan is a business magnate with British and Portuguese citizenship, as well as a racehorse owner and breeder.
The Burj Khalifa, known as the Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration in 2010, is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. With a total height of 829.8 m and a roof height of 828 m (2,717 ft), the Burj Khalifa has been the tallest structure and building in the world since its topping out in 2009.
The Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) is a Dutch architectural firm based in Rotterdam, founded in 1975 by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and Greek architect Elia Zenghelis, along with Madelon Vriesendorp and Zoe Zenghelis.
Fazlur Rahman Khan was a Bangladeshi-American structural engineer and architect, who initiated important structural systems for skyscrapers. Considered the "father of tubular designs" for high-rises, Khan was also a pioneer in computer-aided design (CAD). He was the designer of the Sears Tower, since renamed Willis Tower, the tallest building in the world from 1973 until 1998 and the 100-story John Hancock Center.
The Kuwait Towers are a group of three slender towers in Kuwait City, standing on a promontory into the Persian Gulf. They were the sixth, and last, group in the larger Kuwait Water Towers system of 34 towers, and were built in a style considerably different from the other five groups. The Kuwait Towers were officially inaugurated in March 1979 and are regarded as a landmark and symbol of modern Kuwait. The towers were closed for maintenance from March 2012 to 8 March 2016, with a massive fireworks festival commemorating the re-opening.. Kuwait Towers facility is operated and managed by the state-owned Touristic Enterprises Company. The Main Tower served as the venue for TEDxKuwaitCity event in 2018 and 2019.
Al-Azhar Park is a public park located in Cairo, Egypt.
The Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) is an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), a family of institutions created by Aga Khan IV with distinct but complementary mandates to improve the welfare and prospects of people in the developing world, particularly in Asia and Africa. It focuses on the revitalization of communities in the Muslim world—physical, social, cultural, and economic. The AKTC was founded in 1988 and is registered in Geneva, Switzerland, as a private non-denominational philanthropic foundation.
The Aga Khan Museum is a museum of Islamic art, Iranian (Persian) art and Muslim culture located at 77 Wynford Drive in the North York district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The first museum in the western world dedicated to Islamic art and objects, it houses more than 1,000 rare objects including artifacts from the private collections of His Highness the Aga Khan, the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London, and Prince and Princess Sadruddin Aga Khan. As an initiative of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network, the museum is dedicated to presenting an overview of the artistic, intellectual, and scientific contributions that Muslim civilizations have made to world heritage. The Museum’s mission is to foster a greater understanding and appreciation of the contribution that Muslim civilizations have made to world heritage. Through education, research, and collaboration, the Museum will foster dialogue and promote tolerance and mutual understanding among people. In addition to the Permanent Collection, the Aga Khan Museum features several temporary exhibitions each year that respond to current scholarship, emerging themes, and new artistic developments. The Museum Collection and exhibitions are complemented by educational programs and performing arts events.
Ramses Wissa Wassef (1911–1974) was an Egyptian architect and professor of art and architecture at the College of Fine Arts in Cairo and founder of the Ramses Wissa Wassef Art Centre.
The Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada is a building of the Aga Khan Foundation Canada located between the Embassy of Saudi Arabia and the Lester B. Pearson Building on Sussex Drive. It was opened in 2008.
The Salsali Private Museum [SPM], in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, is the first private museum in the region for contemporary Middle Eastern and international art. It was founded in November 2011 by Ramin Salsali, and is located in the industrial area of Al Quoz in Alserkal Avenue, a complex with the highest concentration of galleries and creative spaces in the region.
Simon Coates is a British mixed media artist, writer & curator.
Rajeeb Samdani is a Bangladeshi industrialist and art collector. He is currently the managing director of Golden Harvest Group, a leading Bangladeshi conglomerate, and the founder and trustee of Samdani Art Foundation which produces the Dhaka Art Summit. He is the founding committee member and co-chair of the Tate Museum, United Kingdom, South Asian Acquisition Committee. He is a member of Tate's International Council and founding members of Harvard University Lakshmi Mittal South Asia Institute's Arts Advisory Council, USA. They are also members of Alserkal Avenue Programming Committee, Dubai and advisory council members of Art Dubai.
The Samdani Art Foundation is a private art foundation founded in 2011 in Dhaka, Bangladesh that aims to increase artistic engagement between the art and architecture of Bangladesh and the rest of the world. It is best known for producing the bi-annual Dhaka Art Summit, which is the highest daily visited contemporary art exhibition in the world, welcoming over 477,000 visitors in its fifth edition in February 2020. The foundation produces education programmes and exhibitions across the year in collaboration with Bangladeshi and international institutions, and is one of the most active art institutions in South Asia.
Alserkal Avenue is an industrial compound hosting warehouses in the industrial zone of Al Quoz, in Dubai. Recently the area has become an arts and culture district for Dubai with lineup of galleries, facilities and platforms, such as Alserkal Avenue that houses residencies for local and global artists. In March 2017, Alserkal Avenue inaugurated Concrete, its new space in the Avenue and the first project to be completed in the United Arab Emirates by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), founded by Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate Rem Koolhaas.
The Palestinian Museum is a flagship project of the Welfare Association, a non-profit organization for developing humanitarian projects in Palestine. Representing the history and aspirations of the Palestinian people, the museum aims to discuss the past, present, and future of Palestine.
Abdelmonem Bin Eisa Alserkal is an Emirati businessman and founder of Alserkal and Alserkal Avenue.
Wasit Wetland Centre is a conservation area in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. It preserves an area of a type of wetland once common along the western coastal plains of the UAE and consists of a visitor centre with viewing points to both captive and wild birds, as well as extensive areas of dunes, mud flats, salty lagoons and freshwater pools. Located in the northern Sharjah suburb of Wasit, the centre runs along the Sharjah/Ajman border. The centre comprises 86 hectares of protected habitat and has been designated as a Ramsar site since 2019.
Khaled Malas is a Syrian architect and art historian. He is also a co-founder of the Sigil Collective alongside Salim al-Kadi, Alfred Tarazi and Jana Traboulsi.
Barjeel Art Foundation is a non-profit arts organisation based in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. The foundation was established in 2010 by Emirati commentator Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi to manage and exhibit his personal art collection. There are over 1,000 pieces of modern and contemporary art in the foundation's art collection. The organisation primarily focuses on artwork produced by Arab artists worldwide and includes paintings, sculptures and installations.
