Exhibitions
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Embroidery for Hawā’: Birds from the iconography of Al-Andalus
From November 08, 2025 until December 12, 2025Opening event: Saturday, November 8 at 11:30 p.m. Opening times: Mondays through Fridays, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and from 4:30 to 8:00 p.m. Closed on weekends and holidays.
CORDOBA
Casa Árabe headquarters (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9).
Opening event: Saturday, November 8 at 11:30 p.m. Opening times: Mondays through Fridays, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and from 4:30 to 8:00 p.m. Closed on weekends and holidays.
Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.
In Spanish.
On Saturday, November 8, we will be holding the official opening of this
exhibition of embroidery created thanks to Hawā’’s micro-crowdfunding
campaign, at our headquarters in Córdoba: falcons, peacocks and eagles,
all inspired by the iconography of Al-Andalus, inspired by community,
and brought together for the first time to be displayed, as well as
being offered for purchase.
The opening event will be held on Saturday, November 8 at 11:30 a.m. at Casa Árabe’s Headquarters (address: Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9). As of that date, you can see the exhibit until December 12, on Mondays through Fridays, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and from 4:30 to 8:00 p.m.
This exhibition presents the results of one of the most beautiful gestures involved in the project: the collection of hand-embroidered pieces which were made possible by our crowdfunding campaign.
Hawāʼ, the current edition of the program Fertile Heritage, is a project by the Friends of Medina Azahara association developed together with artist and performer Zhenxiang Zhao. It explores the human desire to fly, drawing on two sources of inspiration: the ingenious mechanical devices described in manuscripts from Al-Andalus and the powerful presence of birds (falcons, peacocks, eagles) in Andalusi iconography.
A grassroots gesture that echoes back to Dar al-Tiraz
This process establishes an interesting dialogue with the historical Dar al-Tiraz, the royal workshop in Umayyad Cordoba where silk and gold thread garments were embroidered for the court and diplomats. It was the epicenter of a centralized, highly prestigious luxury production center whose fabrics competed with those made in Constantinople and Baghdad. The difference is that today, the “firm” is a collective one. Each embroiderer signs her piece and adds it to a collection which turns the iconography of Al-Andalus into a communal gesture. Unlike the palace workshop, these birds have been created in a process of “slow, shared time.” The work is not centralized into one single space, but is instead spread out within the privacy of the participants’ homes and in collective embroidery gathering held at Espacio Plástico, Casa Encendida and Casa Árabe itself, thus strengthening the collaborative bond formed in the project.
Iconographic research
The selection of birds comes from the work of archeologist Ana Zamorano, who tracked down their presence in in Al-Andalus iconography: from Moorish ivories such as the box with a hunting falcon found in Copenhagen’s David Collection (966–968) and the ivory pot preserved at The Met Cloisters (tenth century), linked to workshops in Madīnat al-Zahrāʾ, to green and manganese bowls with peacocks and birds of prey found in Madīnat al-Zahrāʾ, preserved at the Cordoba Archeology Museum. This research determined which birds would make up the series.
From the final stitches to the exhibition space
The circle is closed in a very special way. Last October, we held our “Final Stitches” meeting at Casa Árabe. There, the embroiderers reviewed and signed their pieces and visited the same space that will now be housing the exhibition.
This exhibition is not just a way to display the embroidery: it is a celebration of the community spirit that sustains the Friends of Medina Azahara association and a visible showing of gratitude to all of the people who helped contribute to this project for flying high, stitch by stitch.
Your piece as a patron
The crowdfunded pieces in this exhibition can be purchased for a contribution of €15. As each work of embroidery is unique and forms part of a grassroots labor of love, you will not be able to choose a specific bird. To safeguard the meaning of this collective effort, the pieces will be allocated in order of reservation from among those available.
The pieces will be delivered to their new patrons once the exhibition has ended. If you would like to reserve yours, please let us know by emailing us at info@amigosdemedinaazaahra.com or send a WhatsApp message to 629 74 45 24.
Further information
This exhibition presents the results of one of the most beautiful gestures involved in the project: the collection of hand-embroidered pieces which were made possible by our crowdfunding campaign.
Hawāʼ, the current edition of the program Fertile Heritage, is a project by the Friends of Medina Azahara association developed together with artist and performer Zhenxiang Zhao. It explores the human desire to fly, drawing on two sources of inspiration: the ingenious mechanical devices described in manuscripts from Al-Andalus and the powerful presence of birds (falcons, peacocks, eagles) in Andalusi iconography.
A grassroots gesture that echoes back to Dar al-Tiraz
The exhibition at Casa Árabe focuses on the pieces created for the crowdfunding campaign, small works that link the memory of Al-Andalus to a contemporary practice of care and cooperation.
Iconographic research
The selection of birds comes from the work of archeologist Ana Zamorano, who tracked down their presence in in Al-Andalus iconography: from Moorish ivories such as the box with a hunting falcon found in Copenhagen’s David Collection (966–968) and the ivory pot preserved at The Met Cloisters (tenth century), linked to workshops in Madīnat al-Zahrāʾ, to green and manganese bowls with peacocks and birds of prey found in Madīnat al-Zahrāʾ, preserved at the Cordoba Archeology Museum. This research determined which birds would make up the series.
From the final stitches to the exhibition space
The circle is closed in a very special way. Last October, we held our “Final Stitches” meeting at Casa Árabe. There, the embroiderers reviewed and signed their pieces and visited the same space that will now be housing the exhibition.
This exhibition is not just a way to display the embroidery: it is a celebration of the community spirit that sustains the Friends of Medina Azahara association and a visible showing of gratitude to all of the people who helped contribute to this project for flying high, stitch by stitch.
Your piece as a patron
The crowdfunded pieces in this exhibition can be purchased for a contribution of €15. As each work of embroidery is unique and forms part of a grassroots labor of love, you will not be able to choose a specific bird. To safeguard the meaning of this collective effort, the pieces will be allocated in order of reservation from among those available.
The pieces will be delivered to their new patrons once the exhibition has ended. If you would like to reserve yours, please let us know by emailing us at info@amigosdemedinaazaahra.com or send a WhatsApp message to 629 74 45 24.
Further information
