Artistic Jihad - a Muslim student art competition and exhibition

The Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS), the national umbrella organization for Muslim students, saw a real struggle taking place for Muslim student artists – to make any real headway, exacerbated by our socio-economic situation and cultural elements as a community. As a consequence, and with a strong conviction for young leadership, FOSIS organized the first ever Muslim student art competition designed to promote Muslim student artists and build a network supporting students seeking a career or further study in the arts.

Over 200 student artists, from medics to architects in training, submitted pieces for the competition judged by a panel of eminent Muslim artists: Peter Sanders, Mohammad Ali, Ruh Al-Alam and Soraya Syed. A plethora of talent was soon dwindled down to a final list of 20, who had their work selected for exhibition at the CSM Platform Gallery, University of Arts London. Those who came were treated to an evening filled with craft, imagination and mastery - some making their way from all across England to be part of this unique project. Guests and artists not only had a chance to view the pieces, but also an opportunity to interact and network, hopefully leading to future collaborations.

The evening was wrapped up with short speeches to a packed auditorium from Nabil Ahmed (President of FOSIS), Sarah Joseph (CEO of Emel) and Salman Waqar (organizer of Artistic Jihad) who called it “an ambitious project from a collective of socially conscious Muslim students working to contribute to trends, not just to consume them”. The overwhelming feeling at the end of the evening was of awe and enlightenment as it was announced that the exhibition would be going on a roadshow across the UK over the coming weeks.

Here we can see some photos from the opening of the exhibition:

*FOSIS was established in 1963 and is a body that caters for the needs of Muslim students in further and higher education across the UK and Ireland. To learn more about FOSIS, please visit http://www.fosis.org.uk

http://www.artisticjihad.com/index/home

Photos and text: Salman Waqar, Head of Members Relations (Federation of Student Islamic Societies)