A faith in fabric: can Farwa Moledina's art change perceptions of Muslim wome
(the images at the link below are amazing)
A faith in fabric: can Farwa Moledina’s art change perceptions of Muslim women?
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Detail from Khadijah, part of Women of Paradise by Farwa Moledina. Photograph: © Courtesy the artist
Drawing on Islamic design, the Birmingham-based artist offers detailed, colourful depictions of female strength, bravery and independence
Kadish Morris
Mon 12 Sep 2022 03.00 EDT
Last modified on Wed 19 Oct 2022 11.00 EDT
Since moving to the UK from Dubai in 2010, Birmingham-based artist Farwa Moledina has set about reclaiming the narrative around Muslim women. “I think there’s an erasure of Muslim women in contemporary art. There’s a singular narrative that you find in museum and gallery spaces. There’s never an alternative presented.” Moledina, who has exhibited work at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, the Midlands Art Centre and also as part of the Lahore Biennale, creates strong, intricate works that incorporate patterns, textiles and symbols. She is inspired by the work of the Moroccan photographer Lalla Essaydi, who is best known for her depiction of Arabic female identity, and also by the writer Edward Said’s critique of orientalism.
Her forthcoming exhibition, Women of Paradise at the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham, is inspired by the four women named by the prophet Muhammad as the Women of Paradise: Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, Fātima bint Muhammad, Maryam bint Imran, and Asiya bint Muzahim. “There’s something about each of their stories that are examples to us as Muslims. Their strengths, their bravery, their faith and their independence. They are role models.”
Moledina believes Khadijah’s story is particularly symbolic. She was the wife of Muhammad and was instrumental in spreading Islam. “She was a merchant. Prophet Muhammad was actually employed by one of her agents to go and do the selling. And on noticing his honesty and integrity, she proposed marriage to him,” Moledina says. “She supported him both emotionally and financially. This is a story of independence and endeavour that is inspiring for Muslim women. A lot of the time, the story you get is that Muslim women sit at home. They don’t work. They’re oppressed.”
Moledina’s work always starts with a pattern. She then creates intricately detailed, often colourful and decorated artworks that are inspired by the distinctive characteristics of Islamic design: floral motifs, geometric designs and calligraphy. At Ikon, there will be four wooden frames shaped in the form of a mihrab, an arched nook that indicates the direction of prayer towards Mecca. They are typically ornately decorated, and form the focal point of a mosque. In Moledina’s work, a mihrab will frame a silhouette of each of the four women, who wear a burqa or a chador. The surrounding patterns and embroidery will tell the story and identity of the women. “It takes a long time to design. I make 30 interactions of each pattern before I’m finally happy with it. A lot of it is small changes that most people wouldn’t notice,” says Moledina, “but the act of designing these patterns is almost meditative to me.”
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https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/sep/12/farwa-moledina-art-islamic-design-muslim-women
