It’s been a really busy, productive period for the project. After the initial stages of online analysis, interviews and focus groups, I amassed a pool of (too) many excellent artists to co-produce the forthcoming exhibition at The Whitworth.

With only five funded places, interested artists who identify as Muslim women were invited to submit a light touch proposal including i) How the exhibition would support their career development ii) How the work proposed would interrogate or add new dimensions of practice to The Whitworth. Each artist also submitted up to five pieces of artwork. A panel of four assessed the application (a teacher, charity and mosque youth group organiser; a curator with expertise in Islamic and South Asian art; the learning manager at The Whitworth; me!).

Every panel members noted the sheer quality of the materials submitted. I needed to go over all the materials twice – it was very tough to distinguish between the applicants. All were more than worthy of inclusion which underlines the premise of this project that Muslim women are already making a major contribution to culture and the arts in the UK. What is needed is more recognition, and more space. The exhibition is due to open June 2019, and will be accompanied by a series of events. More updates will follow shortly, including the names of the artists.

Related