In the Footsteps of the Prophet – Film Screening Panel Discussion

Ovidio Salazar is an award-winning director with over thirty-five years’ experience in filmmaking. Originally from Santa Monica, California he began his studies in Theatre and Comparative Religions. To further his knowledge, he travelled to Europe and the Middle East where he studied in Paris, Istanbul, Cairo and finally London where he currently resides.

For several years he documented major redevelopment projects in the Holy Cities of Mecca and Madinah, before becoming the Series Producer for the BBC series ‘Faces of Islam’. He has directed several films on the pilgrimage to Mecca including segments of the IMAX production ‘Journey to Mecca’ and the BBC produced ‘Hajj – Journey of a Lifetime’. His films have screened worldwide and have won numerous international awards.

Graduated from the School of Oriental and African Studies in 2002 in Islamic History, and has since been working in both television, documentary and feature films. Most recently Yasin worked as the lead researcher on an IMAX project inspired by the story of Ibn Battutah.

Prof. Abdullah Alkadi, is the CEO of Abdullah Alkadi Company for historical consultations. He is also an architect and urban planner. He devoted much of his life to exploring worldwide heritage routes and historical sites. He is one of the most prominent scientists who integrated engineering disciplines with humanities sciences, such as history, geography, economy, and religious sciences. Focusing on the practice of science and research in the field, he made more than 80 scientific field trips over more than 25 years; the number of days of those field trips exceeded 580 days, covering more than 150,000 km. He also distinguished himself in examining old historical maps and linking them with modern Global Positioning Systems and Geographic Information Systems. During his career, he studied heritage routes and historical sites, and other associated sciences in many locations worldwide, with a particular interest in the routes of the Prophet ﷺ. He extracted all related social, cultural, economic, and humanities sciences to understand the nature of life in that period and to inspire his vision of making life better for all.

Farah Abushullaih is the Head of Museum at the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra). She holds an MA in museum anthropology from New York’s Columbia University, and a BA in international business and intercultural communications from Aston University in Birmingham, UK.
Abushullaih joined the Ithra team in 2012 as Lead Curator of the Great Hall exhibition space. During her time at Ithra, she has launched several programs and initiatives that greatly support the development of the Kingdom’s creative sector and provide a platform for cross-cultural engagement. She has curated and developed several local and international exhibitions in collaboration and partnership with distinguished institutions. Abushullaih has led bringing global art to the Kingdom, exhibiting works of art by renowned Norwegian artist Edvard Munch for the first time in the Middle East, as well as exhibiting the works of Leonardo da Vinci in Saudi Arabia for the first time.

In 2021, she introduced the first immersive art exhibition in the Kingdom that addresses the topic of sustainability. Abushullaih also led the development of the local art scene and artists by working with a pioneering team to create the Ithra Bridges program, a series of creative and impactful programs that provided a platform for more than 50 Saudi artists participating in international exhibitions, including shows at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Museum.

Kumail Almusaly is curator of traveling exhibitions at the King Abdu­laziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) in Dhahran. Born in Qatif, Saudi Arabia, in 1985, Almusaly obtained his PhD from Nova Southeastern University, Florida, in 2017 with his thesis “Painting Our Conflicts: A Thematic Analysis Study on the Role of Artists in Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution.” He has participated in many art events and exhibitions locally and internationally, and curated several exhibitions for the Qatif Artists Group. He also represented Saudi Arabia in the first Youth Bien­nale in Cairo 2005. During his tenure at Ithra, he has overseen a number of highly successful exhibitions held in its Great Hall, including Codex Atlantis through Space and Time featuring manuscripts by Leonardo Da Vinci, the Edvard Munch exhibit Landscapes of the Soul, the Dialogue in the Dark exhibit and Kingdom of Cultures exhi­bition which coincided with the 90th anniversary of Saudi National Day, as well as Terra, which examined sustainability and environmentalism.

Idries Trevathan is the Curator of Islamic Art at the king Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra). Since its opening in 2018, he has helped establish Ithra as a major destination for Islamic art through building its collection from scratch and curating major exhibitions in partnership with the Los Angeles County Museum (LACMA) and the Supreme Council of Egyptian Antiquities. In 2021, Trevathan organized the first major international Islamic art conference in Saudi Arabia titled ‘Mosque: Innovation in Object, Form and Function’ which drew distinguished scholars from leading museums and universities around the world.

Trevathan received his BA undergraduate degree in conservation studies at the City & Guilds of London Art School (2006), and his MPhil (2013) and PhD (2018) in Islamic art from the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts in London. He has also authored and edited several books including Colour, Light and Wonder in Islamic Art (Saqi Books 2020) and The Art of Orientation: An Exploration of the Mosque through Objects (Hirmer 2020) and Hijrah: In the Footsteps of the Prophet (Hirmer 2022).