Islamic Arts Museum's bookbinding exhibition steeped in faith and history

The 'Islamic Bookbinding' exhibition features 70 artefacts, and is divided into sections: history and types of bookbinding, designs and techniques, and the elements that form a bookbinding. Photos: The Star/Raja Faisal Hishan

“Imagine. All the artists of the time would work at an atelier. And the copying of the Quran was one of the highest arts. So then the designs would get copied onto other portable objects, and we start seeing similar motifs on all sorts of items,” says Amira Salleh, gesturing to a display case that contained a Quran from Safavid-era Iran.

Zahra Khademi walks over to an adjacent display, which showed a golden-hued Quran from 19th century Kashmir, with the distinctive Chinar leaf motif that is native to the region.