Originally commissioned by the Diriyah Biennale Foundation for the Islamic Arts Biennale 2023, Maintaining the Sacred (2023) was acquired by the Art Jameel Collection under the Art Jameel Foundation -- founded and supported by the Jameel family philanthropies in 2003.
On April 15, 2022, during a raid in Jerusalem, 30 colored glass windows in the Dome of the Rock and Aqsa Mosque were damaged. Each window, crafted from hand-carved plaster with individually inset glass pieces, takes six months to remake using a dying technique practiced by only a few artisans in Yemen, Cairo, and Jerusalem. As the name suggests, Maintaining the Sacred was created to honor the history of this craft. The research for this artwork was partly conducted at The Victoria and Albert Museum when Dima was a part of the Jameel Fellowship series at the museum in 2021-2022.
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