In Between Worlds: Al Buraq

Tracing a Mythical Creature Across Islamic Visual Culture

A visual and ethnographic quest | 2025

What happens when a celestial creature becomes grounded in earthly struggle? This ongoing research project traces Al-Buraq—the lightning-swift steed of Islamic tradition—across fourteen centuries of visual culture, from illuminated manuscripts to street art, from sacred narrative to symbol of resistance.

Beginning as an inquiry into how a single mythical being has been reimagined across cultures from Morocco to Malaysia, the research revealed deeper questions about liminality, cultural appropriation, and political iconography. How does a creature that exists between earthly and divine realms also navigate the space between the mythical and the mundane? What do regional variations in form reveal about power, empire, and devotional practice?

The first iteration of this research culminated in In Between Worlds: Al-Buraq, a small-format artist's book created for the Focal Point Book Fair at Sharjah Art Foundation (December 2025). Combining visual analysis with personal reflection, the book examines Al-Buraq's transformation from vehicle of transcendence to contemporary symbol of Palestinian resistance, exploring how spiritual ascension carries the weight of displacement.

This publication represents an initial mapping rather than a conclusion— a foundation for future explorations into comparative mythology, cross-cultural visual transmission, and the role of composite creatures in articulating what language cannot express. The research continues through ongoing artistic practice and archival work.

If you are interested in receiving a copy of the book, reach out here.