This silent film by Georg Eduard Albert Krugers is a rare personal documentary of his journey in 1928 from Indonesia (then the Dutch East Indies) to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, with a group of pilgrims performing the Hajj. Krugers' commentary in texts on screen provides a personal commentary on the events unfolding. It is reflection of the rich and shared cultural heritage of Indonesia and the Hijaz region of Arabia.
The film premiered in Leiden, the Netherlands, on November 8, 1928. This premiere was attended by numerous Dutch socialites, including Princess Juliana, and given an introduction by Dutch Orientalist Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje.
It is believed that this was probably the first ever film of Mecca and the Hajj watched by audiences in Europe.
In the early 1920s Leopold Weiss, a Viennese Jew, alienated by the materialism and spiritual emptiness of the West, travelled to the Middle East, visiting Jerusalem, Egypt, the Transjordan and Saudi Arabia. After studying the Koran, he left his Jewish roots behind, converted to Islam and changed ...
Journey to Mecca is an IMAX® dramatic and documentary feature that tells the amazing story of Ibn Battuta, the greatest explorer of the Old World, following his first pilgrimage between 1325 and 1326 from Tangier to Mecca.
His perilous journey resonates with adventure while presenting an unforge...
The Hajj exhibition, held at the Institut du Monde Arab Paris, presented the pilgrimage to Mecca in its various facets and historical development. Individual mystical experience, religious meditation, source of artistic inspiration and cross-cultural exchanges, these multiple facets of the pilgri...
