Art and Photography
Two art installations accompany the conference at the Aga KhanA title granted by the Shah of Persia to the then Ismaili Imam in 1818 and inherited by each of his successors to the Imamate. Centre on 26-27 March 2026. In the atrium foyer, visitors can view Amanah, a sculptural installation by artist that reflects on the spiritual and ecological meanings of the elements. A photography display curated by Russell Harris, presented in Room 110, explores the role of water in the Fatimid built environment and in contemporary urban spaces. Together, these exhibitions extend the conference themes through visual and material expression, inviting reflection on the relationship between the elements, human responsibility, and the natural world.
Art installation
Amanah is a sculptural installation by Tanzanian artist Shafina Jaffer, whose practice bridges spirituality, ecology, and sustainable material traditions. A graduate of the Royal College of Art, Jaffer works primarily with natural fibres, barkcloth, earth pigments, and mineral elements, grounding contemporary concerns within sacred cosmology and spiritual ecology. Her work explores humanity’s role as khalifa — guardian — and the moral responsibility embedded within creation.
Reflecting the sacred interrelationship between the five primordial elements — air, water, earth, fire, and ether — Amanah presents each element not as a literal emblem but as a spiritual principle woven into material, geometry, and gesture. The garment rises from barkcloth — the tree itself — evoking both origin and dependence. A barren Tree of Life signals ecological fragility, while subtle traces of water suggest a future in which even life’s most essential resource may become scarce. The head proposes Earth held in consciousness; the oversized shoe calls for decisive action. Filled with fragments of bark, it confronts the cost of overconsumption and deforestation. The work ultimately becomes both warning and invocation — a call to restore balance through stewardship, humility, and urgent collective care.
The Element of Water
Sura 21 (al-Anbiyāʾ), verse 30, informs us that the heavens and the earth were joined together and that God made from water every living thing.
A small photography display (Room 110) curated by Russell Harris accompanies the Elemental conference, and provides an overview of the role of water in the built Fatimid environment, particularly in Cairo (a city founded by the FatimidsMajor Muslim dynasty of Ismaili caliphs in North Africa (from 909) and later in Egypt (973–1171) More in 969).
The photographs highlight recent excavations of 10th-11th century Fatimid gardens in Cairo, as well the role of water in the Al-Azhar Park – a project initiated by the late Aga Khan IV, transforming an enormous rubbish heap in the centre of Cairo into a set of ‘green lungs’ for the metropolis.
The display also includes some images of the Aga Khan Centre and its environs, showing how water continues to play a vital and elemental role in a 21st-century urban environment.
