Sense of Self: The Islamic Contemporary

Despite recent panels and scholarship aiming to dispel the notion, there is a conception that contemporary art and religion are incompatible.

When paired with the Islamophobic sentiment that Islam is destructive, rather than constructive like artistic practices and that it even forbids many forms of artistic production, there is a presumption that contemporary art that engages with Islam as religion and faith (rather than simply as identity) cannot exist.

There is an additional assumption that those who identify as women, queer, trans, and non-binary are unlikely to engage with Islam in their work outside of critique, because of the belief that Islam is inherently (and uniquely) oppressive of and therefore contradictory to individuals who identify as such.

In an attempt to disabuse viewers of these notions, as well as give a space of exploration to these often overlooked or excluded voices, this exhibition brings together women, queer, trans, and non-binary Muslim artists who explore their connection to religion, their other identities (be those related to their race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, or status as artists), and their practices.

Participating Artists:
Nour Ballout
Yasmine Diaz
Arshia Fatima Haq
Yasmine Kasem
Manal Shoukair
Saba Taj