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STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN: REBUILDING THE MINBAR OF SALADIN

Stairway to Heaven is the story of an ancient and magnificent work of sacred art, whose loss not only shook the art world, but triggered the shocking realisation that traditional Islamic knowledge and skills have all but vanished.

In 1969, the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem was attacked by a fanatic, and in the blaze that followed, one of the world’s most precious works of art, the minbar of Saladin, originally installed in 1187, was destroyed. The minbar lay in ashes. Fortunately some black and white photos survived, which showed an intricately constructed pulpit from more than 16,000 hand-carved pieces of walnut, ivory and ebony, held together without glue or nails. Using sacred geometry and the richness of symbolism, the minbar was a masterwork of Islamic art.

Thirty years later, the Royal family of Jordan, as the traditional guardians of the Al-Aqsa mosque, decided to reconstruct the minbar. Narrated by Kenneth Branagh, Stairway to Heaven chronicles the journey to recreate the Saladin minbar and its final restoration in the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, as well as how the consequences of a tragic event have come to symbolise the renaissance of Islamic art around the world.

With
HRH The Prince of Wales
HRH Prince Ghazi
Sir Christopher Frayling
Dr. Khaled Azzam
Professor Keith Critchlow
Dr. Minwer al-Meheid

Cast: Kenneth Branagh, HRH Prince of Wales, HRH Prince Ghazi, Sir Christopher Frayling, Dr Khaled Azzam, Prof Keith Critchlow, Dr Minwer al-Meheid
Producer(s): Andre Singer
Format: Colour
Region: 0 (all)
Discs: 1
Classification: Exempt
Running Time: 53 minutes
Studio: West Park Pictures