Misrepresentation of Islam

collaboration and its discontents

2009-10-06T12:00:00.000-07:00

http://www.visualartists.ie/collaboration.pdf

2009-05-14T17:39:00.000-07:00

Visitors Interacting and Engaging with the Exhibit

The Exhibition Opening Night

2009-05-14T17:02:00.000-07:00

Visitors Interacting and Engaging with the Exhibit
Reading "The Reavealer" Newspaper
Examining the documentation of the Media's coverage and skewed perception of Islam.
Provided on the tanle are archival documents and the "correct" texts the group members "edited" of a newspaper article.
The General Set-up.

HEAR THE PODSCAST HERE.

2009-05-04T11:43:00.000-07:00

http://www.nearfm.ie/podcast/audio/nearfm-2009-05-04-56929.mp3

LINK TO PODCAST OF THE RADIO INTERVIEW WITH ARTISTS NADIA SHAH AND CATHERINE CLARK ON THE PROGRAMME ISLAM IN FOCUS ON EAST DUBLIN'S NEAR90FM.

CREATE IRELAND - PROJECT PROGRAMME ORGANISERS

2009-05-04T11:06:00.000-07:00

http://ldprogramme2009.blogspot.com/2009/04/nadia-shah-and-catherine-clark.html

IN PREPARATION FOR THE SHOW

2009-05-04T10:39:00.000-07:00

THE HARD LABOUR
PRINTING THE NEWSPAPER
WITH THE COMMUNITY

From Context to Exhibition

2009-05-04T09:27:00.000-07:00

" Beyond The Veil" is an exhibition put together by Catherine Clark and Nadia Shah, which launched on Thursday 23rd April in the Lab on Foley st and ran for the successive week.

The show was an archival display of the artists experience and the processes they went through with their elective community. The elective community was a relatively intimate and small group of muslim women who attend the South Circular Road Mosque in Dublin. The show proposed new representations of women in Islam. This was done through the culmination of the newspaper "The Revealer".

The hand printed paper contains true life stories of these women along with articles which the women wrote themselves. Some articles critique the common misconceptions people have of muslim women and others offer insight into being a muslim woman living in Ireland. These women have provided an alternative representation through the form of a newspaper.

The installation style exhibit requests the viewer to spend time with the work. There is a chair provided, inviting you to sit down and read a copy of "The Revealer" which is conveniently placed on a side table. The work also offers insight into the process of working collaboratively with the community. Blank audio tapes and empty photo albums are strategically laid out on a reading desk. The lack of sound and photographs signifies the girls difficulties in working with the women. Concerns were expressed by the women of using their faces and names in the work. Anonymity was a major battle for the artists during their collaboration.

Edited Documents and hand printed texts offer further insight into the complications and difficulties the artists came across while working with the theme of prejudice and misrepresentation. Newspaper articles published over the years which voice prejudice and incorrect accounts of muslims have been "corrected" by the women.

Responses to the show have been amazing, with requests for copies of the limited edition newspaper rising each day to the consistent supportive and positive attitudes of the many artists and industry names visiting the show. Orla Moloney, head of the Art and Disability, Art and Health and the Arts Participation departments for the arts council spoke to the artista about their work and commended them, while also requesting a copy of the newspaper.

Talks have taken place in the gallery during the opening week of the show, during which many more artists who also engage in community arts such as Faisal Abdu Allah, Sarah Tuc, Paul O' Neill, Jesse Jones and Dylan Tighehave commended the artists for their efforts and in putting together such a great show. IMMA have been said to have called the collaborative art exhibit From Context to Exhibition, "The best show yet" that Create have put together.

If you missed the show I would recommend contacting the girls about it at farahnadia1987@hotmail.com or by commenting on their blog, www.misrepresentationinislam.blogspot.com. Also try to catch the newspaper which Catherine and Nadia are currently in the process of printing and distributing.

Declan Mulligan

Radio Interview, Exhibition and Newspaper

2009-04-25T02:12:00.000-07:00

Live on Near90Fm sunday the 26th April between 4:30 and 5:00 pm. Please tune it to hear the latest on our project and call in to voice your opinion on what we are doing.

If you miss the show go to the website and listen to the podcast. All comments are welcome on this site or on the radio show.

We will discuss the misrepresentations of islam and muslim women. We will discuss stereotypes and prejudice and how we have conducted our project to battle these issues in todays society as artists.

Also if you would like to see our project in full visual, then please visit the LAB gallery on |Foley st between the 23rd April and the 1st May. Copies of out handprinted newspaper "The Revealer" are available there to read and request to take home. This newspaper will also be distribute by Nadia Shah And Catherine Clark over the next week throughout Dublin. Visit your local mosque for a copy also.

NEARFM.IE PODCAST ON HIJAB FASHION SHOW.

2009-04-15T14:10:00.000-07:00

http://www.nearfm.ie/podcast/

IRISH WOMAN ON THE HIJAB, AND KEEPING IT.

2009-04-15T13:43:00.000-07:00

PLEASE DOUBLE CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW TO VIEW THE TEXT IN LARGE.

The text is an article posted by a website which discusses the Hijab. An Islamic Scholar is said to have issued a Fatwa, whereby muslim women were justified by Islam and himself to take their Hijabs off on order to protect themselves from hate crimes and profanity.

Accompanying this text is the further writings of a young Irish muslim revert who felt very strongly about what was being said in the text. Please read.

British Muslim Women Respect Fatwa, Keep Hijab

2009-04-06T02:18:00.000-07:00

While respecting a recent fatwa by a leading British Muslim scholar allowing them to take off hijab to avoid spiraling harassment, a number of young British Muslim women said they would keep their religious dress code and seek police porotection against racists.
"As a British citizen I have every right to wear my hijab, which is part of my Muslim identity," Yusra, a University of London student, told IslamOnline.net by phone, referring to the Constitution's freedom of religion article.
"If harassed because of my religion, I would immediately resort to the Metropolitan Police to protect me from racists."
She maintained that taking off her hijab would be tantamount to giving in to extremists and racists "who would not stop at that."
Sheikh Zaki Badawi, the principal of the Muslim College in London and chairman of the Council of Mosques and Imams in Britain, told IOL Thursday, July 28, 2005, that Muslim women in Britain can don off their hijab to head off racist attacks.
"I have issued a fatwa that Muslim women in Britain have an Islamic right to take off their hijab at this point of time if attacked or fearing to be attacked," he said, citing 15,000 assault against hijab-clad women in three days.
A Guardian/ICM poll published July 26, 2005 indicated that nearly half a million Muslims contemplated leaving Britain after the London attacks.

Hijab chic on the catwalk

2009-03-30T07:54:00.001-07:00

"Irish Times"
Saturday, February 7, 2009

IT’S FASHION, but not as we know it. The latest trends in “hijab chic” will be unveiled at a fashion show in UCD today when over one hundred young Muslim women gather at a female-only event to strike a pose in a headscarf.

Instead of the usual catwalk uniform of plunging necklines and form-fitting couture, participants will be conservatively covered up for the second annual Hijab Fashion Show organised by students of the university.

“Our aim is to promote the hijab, to show how it can be worn anytime, anywhere and to communicate the message that beauty can be modest and fashionable at the same time,” says food science student Fatima Elkhomssi (18), at a meeting with the rest of the event’s organising committee in UCD’s Student Centre.

The women – some international students from countries such as Malaysia, others who have spent most of their lives in Ireland after arriving with their families from Libya, Saudi Arabia or Pakistan – are keen to dispel what they see as myths about the conservative Muslim dress code.

Student teacher Anissa Majeed came to Dublin from England with her family as a young girl and says the stereotypes of Muslim women being oppressed by the dress code are, in her experience, misleading.

“Hopefully this event will show people that we don’t go around in black sacks and that we enjoy covering our heads,” she says. “There’s a natural curiosity about women who wear the hijab so we wanted to give people a platform to ask questions and show that it’s possible to be fun and fashionable while still retaining our Islamic principles.”

The practice of “observing hijab” means to cover up in loose clothes, only exposing the hands and face of a woman, and stems from a passage in the Koran which states: “Say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty. They should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their ornaments.” According to the Koran, men must also behave respectfully in front of women. “Men are also expected to lower their gazes, it’s not all the responsibility of the woman,” explains Fatima.

Full text/article link
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2009/0207/1233867924682.html

http://hijabfashionshow.wordpress.com

The Hijab

2009-03-30T05:02:00.000-07:00

"Irish Independent" By Martina Devlin, Thursday May 22 2008

"If Muslim men like the veil so much, let them wear it"

"If Muslim men are so keen on seeing their headscarf introduced into Irish society, they should wear it as well as their women. Let them cover up, too.

Otherwise there must be no place for the hijab in civic life here. Not in banks, hospitals or libraries, not in the guards or civil service and most definitely not in schools."

For full text/article link see below

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/martina-devlin/if-muslim-men-like-the-veil-so-much-let-them-wear-it-1382759.html full text/article link

Hospital suspends Muslim doctor over alleged Islamic conversion attempts

2009-03-30T04:48:00.001-07:00

"The Post", Sunday, April 13, 2008 - By Kieron Wood

A Muslim doctor has been suspended and reported to the Medical Council for allegedly trying to convert patients to Islam.

The doctor, who worked in a south county Dublin hospital, was suspended several months ago, following complaints from the mother of a 19-year-old female patient and a fellow member of staff.

The Health Service Executive referred the complaint to the Medical Council, which is examining the matter. It is understood that the man denies the allegations and claims he referred to Islam during a normal conversation.

The HSE’s Dymphna Bracken said: ‘‘Following complaints from the public and members of staff, a non-consultant hospital doctor has been placed on administrative leave.”

Full text/article link http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2008/04/13/story32031.asp

The Project

2009-03-30T03:58:00.000-07:00

This project which has been titled here is about misrepresentation of Islam and its followers, with specific attention to Ireland. Over the past few years, the Islamic community has come under increasing attack from the media for numerous reasons. As a general it has been found that media reports published are more often than not, misleading, untrue or simply have been twisted in a bad light. It is unfair that the entire Islamic community suffer for the wrong doings of but a few.

This site's main gaol is to give muslims, and in particular, muslim women a leading chance to correct these misrepresenations and voice their opinion on current matters.

Post will be published on this site regularly. The hope is that these posts will be read and commented on. Perhaps even redited if anyone is feeling adventurous. We aim to provoke debate and discussion. We also hope that many of you will take initiative to write your own text which will be posted on the blog. The material gathered will serve as a collective of similar minds, aiming to re-write the non-truths that get published on a daily basis. Hopefully, insha'allah, this site will provide an outlet for muslims, where they can feel like they are in control of what is said about them rather than the media.

Please become a follower, and/or contribute to the site in any way, or anonymously!!! This site is yours!!!

2009-03-30T03:56:00.001-07:00