Interview with Saffron Mustafa
The interview was very insightful in sharing the experience of how religion can influence and intersect with how people decide to live their life as well as the reactions they receive from other people, whether that is to be welcomed or shunned. Mustafa highlights the difficulty or internal conflict someone can experience “being caught in this weird space of being between multiple cultures”. Something could is most likely very prevalent within the diverse UAL student body.
She also highlights that “Islam spans so many different places and cultures”, meaning one student’s experience can be vastly different to another. It can be quite damaging and dismissive to only look at two students sharing an aspect of their identity, without acknowledging their individual differences.
She also makes apparent that religion can be quite a sensitive subject. It is important to allow students the capacity to explore that in their own way/ offer support as they do so but also not highlight or make them feel like there is a magnifying glass on them, pushing them to speak about their different identities.
There are ways in which communities and individuals come together, influenced and motivated by religion, and using creativity as a tool to do so.
Some examples include:
Muslim sisterhood – the photography, film, events and art collective for Muslim women by Muslim women – a space to breathe. It’s a chance to pause and centre one’s faith on what it means to be a Muslim woman today.
OOMK (One Of My Kind) – Artist collective. OOMK Zine is a publication about women, art, activism and faith.
Khidr Collective – UK-based multidisciplinary arts collective which curates and platforms the work of Muslim artists and produce Khidr Collective Zine, a biannual print publication.
Bibliography:
HIGHER POWER: RELIGION, FAITH, SPIRITUALITY & BELIEF, 2017. Interview with Saffron Mustafa. [online] p.28. Available at: <https://shadesofnoir.org.uk/higher-power-higher-power-religion-faith-spirituality-belief/>
Your blog has been a very relevant and thought provoking read for me. The highlighted point about the internal conflict many people can experience, though living in a space of multiple cultures, makes me empathise how stressful this could be. It is currently a hot topic to be ‘authentically you’ all the time but realistically this is not always possible. Teaching in the prison I often see how people’s faith can have an impact on how the students are treated by their peers, as you state; welcomed and shunned. I can also see the conflict this would cause when it is imperative to ‘fit in’.
I aim for the LCF Making for Change unit to be a space for the participants to explore their identities, though design and the curriculum. However, as you also highlight there is a fine line between encouraging that exploration and putting the magnifying glass on them to speak about their different identities. This is the boundary that I am currently struggling to find for my suggested artefact. I enjoyed the examples you included and they are giving me inspiration on how to use creativity as a tool, to achieve the outcome I want without pushing too hard directly.
Hi Safia,
I echo Traceyann’s in saying how thought provoking this is to read. The article also leaves me thinking about how individuals connections with faith is deeply personal, individual and that the stories, experiences of discovery both internally and externally by way with the self, family, friends and wider communities can regarded as a sacred thing. Sharing our stories of our faith and how we grow with this is something that is inextricably personal and where its safe to express can offer a great deal of change, healing and understanding. When safe spaces are and can be established such as Muslim Sisterhood or between those is the classroom and beyond it seems there is a personal power to transcend preconceptions, prejudice, ignorance as well as connect with likeminded individuals and impress upon others who listen that there is so much depth and more to us than the ‘labels of faith’ that we use, relate to or identify with. Coming together as a collective is also a powerful too for change. Story telling is a powerful modality, it comes with vunerability, compassion and empathy and there is so much scope for this to be further celebrated and explored and to foster but not force inclusivity and acceptance of differnt faiths. Contrastingly, students may feel the need to fit in as Tracyann highlights, suggesting we can do more to open up spaces for faith to be a more intrinsic part of curriculum, Perhaps through collaborations with Muslim Sisterhood, OOMK and Kihdr Collective. I came across this Christian art collective, Morphē. (https://www.morphearts.org/about)
I’m now thinking of how useful a resource the links you have shared with me will be to discuss in our newsletters and highlight in communications to our textile undergraduates and allumni.
Reference
http://www.morphearts.org. (n.d.). What’s On. [online] Available at: https://www.morphearts.org/whats-on [Accessed 18 Jan. 2023].