AIWF was delighted to extend its full support to the London Middle East Institute at SOAS, University of London, on its SOAS Centenary Lecture, Tribal Landscapes in Palestinian, Jordanian & Syrian Women’s Embroidered Garments, delivered by SOAS Alumna and Honorary Fellow Her Royal Highness Princess Wijdan Al Hashemi. The SOAS Centenary Lecture took place on Monday 23 January 2017, at the Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre at SOAS University of London.
Mrs Haifa Al Kaylani, Founder Chairman of AIWF, is very proud to be an Advisory Board Member of LMEI and especially proud to have been able to extend her personal support on this important occasion and in the past when AIWF hosted Her Royal Highness for a reception and exhibition of leading Arab women artists.
The SOAS Centenary Lecture by HRH Princess Wijdan Al Hashemi coincided with the exhibition Embroidered Tales and Woven Dreams and opened with a general view of the history of embroidery in the Levant, before going into a summary review of the development and significance of embroidery in Jordan, Syria and Palestine.
A longstanding friend and supporter of AIWF, painter, art historian, academic and diplomat Dr Wijdan Al Hashemi first trained in art in Amman with the Italian Armando Prön and Jordanian Muhanna Durra. She carries a PhD in Islamic Art from SOAS (1993) and is a Fellow of SOAS (2010). She established the Royal Society of Fine Arts (1979) which founded the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts (1980), and founded the Higher Institute of Islamic Art and Architecture at Al Al-Beit University in Jordan (1993) and the Faculty of Arts and Design at the University of Jordan (2002).
In 1962, Princess Wijdan became the first woman to enter the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jordan and she was also the first woman delegate to represent Jordan at United Nations meetings and the General Assembly. She was Ambassador of Jordan to Italy (2006-2011), and the first to write the history of modern and contemporary Islamic art with over 19 publications.
