(salsabeel photography)
Alhamdulillah my work was selected for Artistic Jihad this year. i was very excited but unfortunately i couldn't attend the launch night in london, but there is a roadshow of all the selected works of the 20 artists are heading to cardiff where i will insha allah check it out.
Artistic Jihad is a Muslim student art competition and exhibition organised by FOSIS. It is designed to promote Muslim student artists and build a network supporting students seeking a career or further study in the arts. We aim to showcase the work of up-and-coming artists and to highlight the increasing contribution of Muslims to society.
Jihad, literally meaning ‘struggle’, is a widely misunderstood and derided concept. Its usage has almost become profane and inflammatory and has shown little signs of abating. However just as the English flag needs to be reclaimed from the far-right fascists of the EDL, the Muslim community needs to reassert its influence on Islamic terminology.
The struggles of aspiring Muslim artists are many, from having to defend their faith, embrace new identities, promote positive narratives, overcome a community prejudice towards arts, or to simply try and get onto the career ladder. The cry of the Muslim artist’s struggle could not go unanswered. And so, we founded Artistic Jihad.
Artistic Jihad is a nationwide talent search for the best Muslim student artists. Artists will submit their work over the course of several weeks to be judged by several eminent Muslim artists: Peter Sanders, Mohammad Ali, Ruh Al-Alam and Soraya Ahmed.
The chosen finalists will be awarded with a place to have their piece displayed in a special exhibition in Central London, alongside selected works of the judges, and have their artwork tour the country as part of the Artistic Jihad Roadshow.
The finalists from the competition, as chosen by our panel of judges, will form the line up for the national Exhibition. Taking place on the 4th April 2011 at the CSM Platform Gallery at the University of Arts in Central London, it will showcase the work of Muslim student artists to the wider community.
To help promote the finalists careers and the work of young Muslim artists, the judges will provide some of their own work to be displayed alongside the finalist’s entries and we will have media coverage to increase the exposure and recognition for our aspiring artists.
Following on from the Exhibition, we will take the artwork on a nationwide tour to cities including Liverpool, Cardiff and Nottingham. Through this we endeavour to increase the public’s engagement with our young Muslim artists and further increase their exposure and reputations. We will arrange for local interactions through presentations at educational institutions, places of worship and city councils to facilitate our efforts to promote art in the Muslim communities.
The Roadshow will end with a special exhibition at the FOSIS Annual Conference in June 2011. As the only Muslim student-led conference running continuously for the past 48 years in Britain and Ireland, there is enormous potential to infuse and cement this ethos of artistic appreciation into the next generation of young Muslims.
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