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Ibrahim Alkazi is the founder director of National School of Drama. He is also a gallerist, a collector and a patron of the arts

What does spirituality mean to you?
I do not think it is a state in which one exists. It is an aspiration, a state of being that one strives for. It only comes with a tremendous amount of self-questioning and experiencing the world at all its various levels, in all its manifestations —- whether human beings, nations, or cultures. It is something I constantly question since it also has to do with the values I strive to live by, knowing I cannot live up to them, as I often feel contaminated by the world, descending to a level I would wish to transcend.

So how does spirituality manifest in your daily life?
I am a Muslim and I say my prayers. My father was an Arab from Saudi Arabia and my mother was from Kuwait, so naturally Islam has been a long tradition in the family. It is also about the values I got from the way my parents conducted their lives.

Do you believe you are guided and protected by a superior force?
It is a very strong element of the Islamic faith. It is one of the ways God works the patterns of your life. Not everything that comes your way comes because of your own volition.

Do you believe you have a special purpose in this life?
Of course there is a purpose. For me, it has been about a commitment to the work of art. I felt that plays should not be kept inert on bookshelves but rather be given a life of their own. I would recreate them through my imagination and be a conduit for them to become part of the audience’s imagination and experience. I also felt that plays should reach beyond the walls of the theatre. The Mahabharata for instance, should not be cloistered among so-called intellectuals who read all sorts of fancy ideas into it that are not there, and who do not understand its values. It should be shared with the whole of mankind. And so I would always lead two lives: my daily “wordly” life with its trials and tribulations, and the life of my characters. Unless you completely become those characters, you cannot achieve much. And so I never looked at art with a capital A, it always was a complete part of life.

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