An exhibition by A & Rumi
22 – 28 February 2024
Private view : Friday 23 February 2024, 6-9pm
Based on oral history interviews with Muslims of marginalised genders and sexualities, this exhibition explores journeys of seeking, Islamic feminism and inclusive Muslim spaces.
Funded by the Consortium for the Humanities and the Arts South-east England (CHASE), an AHRC-funded Doctoral Training Partnership.
“Islam began as a stranger and will return as it began, a stranger; and blessed are the strangers.” (Sahih Muslim 145)
A collaboration between researcher and artist, this exhibition provides notes on the path towards the self, illuminating the cyclical and communal nature of the spiritual, philosophical, emotional and embodied journey of becoming. Oral history interviews conducted by Rumi invited Muslims of marginalised genders and sexualities to reflect upon their relationships with Islam, Islamic feminism, and inclusive Muslim spaces. The clips presented here are neither all-encompassing nor entirely representative of LGBTQIA+ and feminist Muslims and our spaces. Rather, they are intended to act as a mirror to you, the visitor. We hope that by meditating on A’s pieces, you will leave with (re-)awakened curiosity and a desire to seek, to know, and to love and liberate.
Questions to ruminate on:
With whom can you breathe?
What do you long for?
Where might you find, or how might you create, sacred kin?
How can returning liberate us from oppressive structures and forces in the present?
