V&A Announces Dice Kayek as Winner of Jameel Prize 3

Dice Kayek / Photo © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

The judges felt that Dice Kayek’s work demonstrates how vibrant and creative Islamic traditions continue to be today, matching the aims of the Jameel Prize. Their translation of architectural ideas into fashion shows how Islamic traditions can still transfer from one art form to another, as they did in the past.

Martin Roth, Director of the V&A and chair of the panel of judges said, "The selection of the winner was as difficult as ever, given the very high standard of the shortlisted work. We were struck by the way that Dice Kayek’s work uses Islamic inspiration in a completely secular context, taking it into a new world, that of contemporary fashion. Their interpretation of Islamic traditions in the three garments displayed makes them truly deserving winners of the Jameel Prize 3."

Dice Kayek is showing three of the 26 designs from Istanbul Contrast in the Jameel Prize 3 exhibition. In Caftan, made of hand-woven lamé brocade, the sisters reworked the robes worn by the city’s former Ottoman rulers.

Dice Kayek, Caftan, 2009 / Courtesy Dice Kayek Archive

In Dome 2, light-weight cotton organdy was folded to echo the ribs of lead-covered domes of the city’s mosques and palaces.

Dice Kayek, Dome 2, 2010 / Courtesy Dice Kayek Archive

In Hagia Sophia, they were inspired by Byzantine mosaics, creating a white satin coat with complex, hand-stitched embroidery that incorporates ancient glass beads. The Ege sisters were born in Bursa, Turkey, and they live and work between Istanbul and Paris.

Dice Kayek, Hagia Sophia, 2009 / Courtesy Dice Kayek Archive

Awarded every two years, the Jameel Prize is an international art prize for contemporary artists and designers inspired by Islamic traditions of art, craft and design. The prize aims to raise awareness of the thriving interaction between contemporary practice and this great historical heritage and to broaden understanding of Islamic culture and its place in the world.

An exhibition of work by the winner and nine other short-listed artists and designers runs until 21 April 2014. They are Faig Ahmed, Nasser Al Salem, Nada Debs, Mounir Fatmi, Rahul Jain, Waqas Khan, Laurent Mareschal, Florie Salnot and Pascal Zoghbi. The winner of the first Jameel Prize in 2009 was Afruz Amighi for her work 1001 Pages (2008), part of a series in which she uses light and shadow to create complex and engaging designs whose precise location can elude the viewer. In 2011 the winner was Rachid Koraïchi, for his work Les Maîtres Invisibles (The Invisible Masters, 2008), a selection of banners embroidered with Arabic calligraphy and a variety of symbols and ciphers that explore the lives and legacies of the 14 great mystics of Islam. Rachid Koraïchi is on the judging panel for this year’s prize.

Martin Roth, Ayse Ege, Ece Ege, Fady Jameel / Photo © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Ece Ege and Ayse Ege, Dice Kayek / © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

The winner was decided by a panel of judges chaired by Martin Roth, Director of the V&A. The judges are Thomas Heatherwick, designer and founder of Heatherwick Studio; Rachid Koraïchi, winner of the Jameel Prize 2011; Nada Shabout, Associate Professor of Art History and the Director of the Contemporary Arab and Muslim Cultural Studies Institute at the University of North Texas, USA and Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès, Founding Director of the Khatt Foundation, Center for Arabic Typography.

The Jameel Prize is founded in partnership with Abdul Latif Jameel Community Initiatives (ALJCI). The Jameel Prize was conceived after the renovation of the V&A’s Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art, which opened in July 2006 to present the rich artistic heritage of the Islamic world.

The Jameel Prize 3 exhibition is curated by Tim Stanley, senior curator of the V&A’s Middle Eastern collection, with Salma Tuqan, V&A’s Middle East curator of contemporary art and design.