Inspired by The Silk Road exhibition. In five online sessions, a step-by-step process guided by tutor Rajen Astho will lead participants through a sequence of rare and exquisite geometric designs adorning the walls of monuments: the Samarkand Gur Amir complex, Ulugbek Madrasa and Bibi Khanum Mosque. Exploring the relationships among these designs will shed the light on the likely thought processes of Timurid-era geometers, highlight some points of the evolution of the style, and reveal its place within the wider tradition of Islamic geometric pattern. The case studies in this course focus on designs with 12/8 focus symmetry.

Inspired by Making Paradise and The Silk Road exhibitions, this course explores the rich and varied floral and animal inspired motifs that were exchanged between China and the Islamic world. Students will learn to draw and paint fantastical birds such as the phoenix (known as the simorgh in Persian, and feng huang in Chinese). We will also explore cloud and floral designs that entered the Islamic world through the Silk Road ceramic trade. They will complete their own paintings on paper using traditional techniques.

A full-day workshop in flowers-on-tulle embroidery as part of the Making Paradise and Silk Road exhibitions at the Aga Khan Centre. You will learn the basic techniques of embroidering with dried flowers and have the opportunity to create your own richly coloured and textured geometric design.

Join RSN Tutor, Jung Byun, to stitch this stunning Silk Shaded Peacock motif in an online class celebrating our partnership with the Aga Khan Centre, London and their new exhibition, Making Paradise. The exhibition features Jung’s award-winning embroidered Peacock mirror which inspired the motif you will be stitching.

This class is suitable for all levels and will introduce you to hand embroidery techniques including Silk Shading and Goldwork. You will learn how to create long and short, split stitches in shaded colours as well as Goldwork stiches. Fee is applicable, so please go to Royal School of Needlework website - click on link provided for booking details and materials information.

We are delighted to invite Antonia Harland-Lang, Exhibitions Co-ordinator at RHS Libraries to talk about their collection, the selected works in Making Paradise exhibition alongside a talk on Islamic Garden Design by Emma Clark, a renowned Islamic Garden Designer who acted as consultant on the exhibition. The talk will be introduced by Making Paradise curator, Esen Kaya.

Inspired by Making Paradise and The Silk Road exhibitions, this workshop will introduce you to Islamic calligraphy by master calligrapher Soraya Syed. Using traditional tools and materials, you will begin emulating letters of the Arabic alphabet and have a go at writing their own name. All materials provided (optional - materials will be for sale after class).

Inspired by The Silk Road exhibition, this workshop introduces you to pattern making in Islamic art. How do we construct by hand the beautiful, varied patterns that adorn all Islamic art? What is the significance of these designs in relation to the spiritual tradition of Islam? Join us for a practical introduction to drawing geometric designs led by Delfina Bottesini of The Princes School of Traditional Arts, London.

Inspired by The Silk Road exhibition. Explore the vibrant brickwork patterns that adorn buildings along the Silk Road. Learn about the symbolic meaning of these patterns and observe their evolution throughout this historic route. Then, learn to construct geometric patterns drawing on examples from two monuments - one in Samarkand, and the other in Herat. Complete your patterns using colours relating to the symbolism of paradise.

Inspired by The Silk Road exhibition. Images of Buddha Amitabha can be found in many places along the Silk Road, from the Dunhuang Caves in China to India and Nepal. In the Mahayana school of Buddhism, veneration the Buddha is a path to achieving a higher consciousness and eternal bliss in the present. In this class, you will learn to paint the Buddha Amitabha in his traditional representation - seated in a meditative posture, upon a peacock. You will also understand more about the meaning and significance of the iconography of the Buddha.

Inspired by The Silk Road exhibition. How do we construct by hand the beautiful, varied patterns that adorn all Islamic art? What is the significance of these designs in relation to the spiritual tradition of Islam? Join us for a practical introduction to drawing geometric designs.

Inspired by Making Paradise exhibition. In this course you will find out more about four Trees of Paradise as mentioned in the Qur’an, and then be supported to call on their imagination to draw and paint them. You will learn traditional painting techniques to bring their trees to life, including exploring the use of shell gold to illuminate their painting. Each 2-days session will focus on a different pair of trees: the date and pomegranate; then the olive, and fig. Participants can opt to take one or both sessions.

Inspired by Making Paradise exhibition. In this course you will find out more about four Trees of Paradise as mentioned in the Qur’an, and then be supported to call on their imagination to draw and paint them. You will learn traditional painting techniques to bring their trees to life, including exploring the use of shell gold to illuminate their painting. Each 2-days session will focus on a different pair of trees: the date and pomegranate; then the olive, and fig. Participants can opt to take one or both sessions.