Illuminating shared humanity

In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre (SZGMC) opened the Light and Peace Museum in December 2024—an interfaith museum housed within one of the world’s most iconic places of worship.

Spanning five immersive galleries, the museum invites visitors into a powerful journey through faith, knowledge, and coexistence. Through historic manuscripts, contemporary artworks, and multisensory installations, it reveals how diverse religious communities have shaped—and been shaped by—each other over centuries.

"Light & Peace" is an expression of the mosque’s mission to foster intercultural and interfaith dialogue. Its content and design together communicate an impactful narrative of faith, coexistence and inspiration. The exhibition ranges from an Iron Age pot adorned with snake motifs, perhaps connected to an ancient cult, to early Christian friezes and a medieval Jewish headstone, to the three holiest mosques of Makkah, Madinah and Jerusalem. It will over time evolve into a space for far-reaching dialogue, research, and education.

At the heart of the Light and Peace Museum is a dialogue between past and present. To realise this vision, we built a unique collection: acquiring world-class historic Islamic artefacts while commissioning contemporary artists to create new works. From sacred relics and manuscripts to powerful contemporary pieces, each object tells a story of interwoven traditions and mutual respect.

This approach extends across the exhibition. We worked closely with lenders and collectors and commissioned artists including Idris Khan, Abdul Qader Al Rais and Othman Khunji to reflect both the splendor of Islamic heritage and its living, evolving expression today.

With over seven million annual visitors from across the world, the design brief was ambitious: create an experience that is moving, memorable, and universally accessible.

To achieve this, inclusivity was embedded at every level. Content is presented in seven languages. Interpretation moves beyond text—through tactile displays, evocative scents, immersive environments, and family-focused exhibits. These multisensory tools expand access for audiences of all ages and abilities, while staying true to the museum’s core message: that peace, like light, touches everyone.

The concept of light shaped every aspect of the exhibition—from its curatorial themes to its spatial choreography. Light becomes both symbol and medium: a metaphor for faith, a tool for storytelling, and a design language in its own right.

The innovative design merges timeless artefacts with cutting-edge technology to produce an experience that is theatrical yet deeply spiritual. Within the recreation of the grand mosques, the approach to immersion goes beyond provocation—creating evocative theatrical scenes that seamlessly combine object theatre, art films, exquisite models, light and ambient soundtrack to transport audiences on a multisensory journey through Islam’s holiest sites. The result is a groundbreaking, memorable and truly interactive environment that invites visitors to become part of the story.

The Light and Peace Museum was created through deep collaboration. Our team worked hand-in-hand with SZGMC, with designers, artists, collectors, and international experts.

Barker Langham led the creative direction and interpretive vision, co-curating alongside the mosque’s team. Working in close partnership with Ralph Appelbaum Associates (exhibition design), and Michael Grubb Studio (lighting), we developed the concept, curatorial direction, content and collections strategy, and experiential design.

This collective process extended to institutions such as Kuwait’s al-Sabah Collection, forging long-term partnerships that shaped both the narrative and the collection. The result is a museum that is both spiritually resonant and intellectually rich—rooted in Islamic tradition, yet radically open in spirit, and shaped by a multitude of perspectives, traditions, and creative expressions.

We envisioned the story of the museum as a journey through time. It begins in the ancient lands of today’s UAE, before moving across the Arabian Peninsula, tracing the emergence of Islam and the tradition of its grand mosques. It turns to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque—its architecture, spiritual significance, and the people who bring it to life—and then broadens: engaging communities from around the world and culminating in a participatory digital installation where visitors add their own message of coexistence.

From the original narrative framework through to the final piece of script, this narrative shaped a profoundly spiritual and immersive experience.