The strong bond that the Spanish city of Cordoba enjoys with Arab and Muslim culture is epitomized by a museum that showcases an art form popular during the 10th-century Arab Caliphate.

 

Just a few minutes away from the Mosque-Cathedral of the Andalusian city, the Museum of the Omeyan Guadameci travels back in time to an artistic technique used to adorn palaces and craft luxurious gifts.

 

Jose Carlos Villarejo Garcia, the last remaining artist specializing in Guadameci Islamic art, founded the museum in 2006. Coming from a family of artists who passed on their craftsmanship over generations, Villarejo has helped to build appreciation of beauty in all its forms, but above all, the geometrical.

 

Jose Carlos received the Hernan Ruiz Award 2020 for restoring the Guadameci technique of painted, embossed leatherwork to Cordoba’s culture. The pieces of art, called “guadameci,” consist of a piece of sheepskin tanned and later gilded, polychrome and iron garnished.