The painting Islamic Scientists was one of the last that Syrian artist Mahmoud Hammad produced before his death in 1988. It is also perhaps his most ambitious. The work tackles a vast timeline, condensing centuries of Islamic history into a 120cm x 180cm canvas.

Yet, the painting has a marked blind spot. The canvas is populated entirely by men – with no reference to the achievements of the female thinkers and intellectuals of the Islamic Golden Age.

A new companion piece, A Wonderful World, by Iraqi artist Afifa Aleiby aims to address this oversight. Commissioned by the Barjeel Art Foundation, it will be officially unveiled during a ceremony at Sharjah’s House of Wisdom on Sunday. A Wonderful World will be displayed beside Hammad’s Islamic Scientists, which is also part of the foundation’s collection and has been displayed at the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilisation since 2014.
https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/art-design/2025/02/23/mahmoud-hammad-islamic-scientists-women/