‘Geometry of Beauty’ exhibition connects art, science and faith
Salam - A new show called “Geometry of Beauty: A Language to Read or an Equation to Solve?” has opened at MNWR Space in Jeddah, bringing together 28 artists whose work explores art, science and spirituality through Islamic geometry and Arabic calligraphy.
Presented by MNWR with Hafez Gallery and Makhtut Studio and curated by Abdelrahman Elshahed, the exhibition runs until Nov. 7.
Qaswra Hafez, founder of Hafez Gallery, says the idea came from wanting to link traditional and modern approaches and invite artists to consider whether beauty is a language we learn or an equation we uncover - from the orbit of an atom to the sacred circle of tawaf around the Kaaba.
The collaboration with MNWR Space and Makhtut Studio, she added, completes the conversation, showing how Islamic geometry and Arabic calligraphy respond to universal questions of form and meaning that still speak to people today.
Curator Abdelrahman Elshahed explained the show began with a simple question connecting devotion, science, and visual logic. Circular motion, proportion, and repetition tie scientific ideas to acts of worship and to the visual reasoning behind Islamic art, he said.
To choose the artists, Elshahed looked for those who could bring together heritage, inquiry, and experiment - valuing calligraphic or geometric skill, clear concepts, technical ability, and a mix of generations, genders, and disciplines. He organised the works around shared “keys” like the circle, the grid, and the golden ratio, placing calligraphy beside abstraction, manuscript ornament beside sound and light so motifs echo across media.
His background as an artist and calligrapher helped him “see structure inside emotion,” he said, and he favoured pieces where craft and concept are inseparable while making the making - hand-dyed papers, ruled geometries, algorithmic patterns, embodied gestures - visible so visitors can read how beauty is built.
“Above all,” he added, “I hope visitors leave feeling a link between their heartbeat and a compass-drawn rosette, between cosmic order and everyday care, and see faith, reason, and creativity as parts of the same house.”
Featured artist Ehab Mamdouh spoke about his series “Reflection of the Soul,” which meditates on reflection as a spiritual and aesthetic act. Inspired by the basmala and the divine name Al-Raheem, his work comes from what he calls a personal school grounded in uniqueness and repetition. As a director of a media company and filmmaker, he says art is his private space to show the reflections of his soul away from market pressures.
Mamdouh described the gallery as carrying a sense of serenity and spirituality, and praised the curation for making a lively conversation between Islamic visual heritage and contemporary scientific ways of thinking - reading geometry, calligraphy, and ornament through math, algorithms and data to build bridges between intuition and method.
Basmah Al-Saqabi, whose work focuses on the word “Allah,” described her piece as centring the divine name as radiant light, surrounded by interwoven colors and geometric lines signifying the universe’s diversity and reflection. Inspired by her late father, calligrapher Mohammed Al-Saqabi, she said the exhibition feels like entering a galaxy of luminous minds and creates a map of beauty that links art, science, and the spirit. For her, geometry is a path to contemplation and a structure that lets creativity breathe.
Abdulrahman Al-Kabran contributed “Between Earth and Sky,” using the pilgrim’s ihram as a symbolic surface representing purity and detachment and transforming it into a tapestry of dots and buttons that evoke the collective rhythm of tawaf. He said the colors reflect the unity of world cultures and that handmade elements reintroduce the human touch, turning geometry into a spiritual language that shows science and art speak the same language of creation and divine order.
Maha Khogeer’s piece “Siyah va Sefid” (Black and White) treats calligraphy as pure visual form, freeing letters from strict linguistic function to become a composition of contrast. She noted that artists reflect the culture and history they come from, and exhibits like this open space for dialogue between ideas and cultures, highlighting the richness and inherent beauty of the arts.
If you’re in Jeddah before Nov. 7, it sounds like a peaceful, thoughtful show worth visiting - a meeting of faith, craft, and curiosity.
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