First Friday: Rethinking the Mosque through Art by Nadia Kurd

Rethinking the Mosque through Art: Muslim Women Artists Respond by Nadia Kurd.

The mosque is a potent site, sign and symbol of Islam across the globe. With roots in the early history of Islam dating back to the first community of Muslims in Medina, the mosque continues to visually and symbolically signify the presence of Islam. Despite the permeability of Islamic ritual prayer, contemporary mosques are often designed to segregate women and men in communal gatherings. Nadia Kurd will examine artists who contemplate and dispel the gendered norms of contemporary Islamic rituals through their art. Artists such as Farheen HaQ (South Asian Canadian), Azra Aksamija (Bosnian American) and Lubna Agha (Pakistani American) illustrate the mutability of religious practices and emphasize the increasing agency Muslim women and marginalized communities have exercised more broadly across the globe.