The Hexagon of the Black Mihrab

The Hexagon, rendered entirely in bucchero, is a complex, multi-level relief artwork, rich in symbolism. It constitutes the first section created of the Black Mihrab, a monumental prayer niche designed for the Western Islamic World.  This native western traditional Islamic art connects the greatest Tradition of the islamic world with the ancient European Tradition. The design of the Hexagon is an interpretation and tribute to one of the greatest artists in Islamic history, “Hürremshah”, who designed the Seljuk-era Divriği Mosque and Hospital in Anatolia, now present-day Sivas, Türkiye.

Bucchero is a ceremonial ancient Etruscan ceramics technique, produced from the 7th to 5th centuries B.C. in Etruria, now central Italy.  Its uniqueness is immediately apparent through the quality of the tone of the ceramics; a rich, bronze-like, organic black which permeates the entire depth of the tile, and is obtained through a chemical reaction of the clay itself during an oxygen-reduction firing process.  The quality of bucchero is not dependent on exterior treatments such as glazes, but is the red earthenware clay itself which transforms to black.