The Arts, an engagement of cultures, a dialogue that transcends words, essays, speeches and politics. This is the means of representing an often misunderstood belief system as vast and complex as Islam, particularly in Western countries. With the statistics of many young Muslims spread throughout the various professions being well documented, the rise of Muslims in the arts is somewhat less understood. Much of this is to do with Western Muslims own community inhibitions, based on a misunderstanding of what art is actually for. Is it simply a way for children to express themselves with felt tip pens? Or a rebellion of representing the created world in an unnecessary and somewhat time wasting exercise of self expression? Art for muslims has had a long and incredible history. Being true to that requires a serious intellectual rigour. This is not an exercise for the fainthearted. Film, visual art, music, performance, poetry - all of these mediums are experiencing explosive growth throughout muslim communities across Europe & North America, not to mention a renaissance of forms throughout the traditional Muslim world, from the Middle East's metropolises ( the visionary Muscat Youth Conference) to Pakistan (Islamabad's sophisticated and well establish arts scene) and Malaysia (recently hosting an arts expo in the Islamic Economic Summit).
It seems like the temperature is right for a truly enlightening renaissance of Muslim thought, inspired by an increasing exposure to technological/cultural innovations and the diverse expressions of Western, modern culture, and a vast re-discovery of the voluminous Islamic intellectual tradition. Make not mistake, art for muslims IS an intellectual science within the Religion. Islam has inspired features of mathematical and proportionate perfection through architecture, geometry and calligraphy, but what now of the 21st century? Are Muslims to produce immaculate films, exquisite novels or stunning secular spaces?
The truth is, we have to. If we do not, it's another 100 years of stagnation ahead. Sure, we will have earned, and no doubt wasted, plenty of money an energy, but people outside of Islam will have as warped and distorted an opinion of this rich tradition as ever. Progress does not equal promotion. It is about proposing an alternative viewpoint to the dominant societal paradigms, expressed beautifully, provocatively, radically, through our art.
Express bewilderment through Art; Articulate the Unknown, the Unknowable, the only way we know how.