Description
BlackFlash Fall/Winter 2021
Infinities guest-edited by Nadia Kurd
Infinities (Fall/Winter 38.3) brings together a range of Canadian artists and writers to examine the influence of the traditions and conventions of Islamic visual cultures on contemporary art. From techniques and symbols to concepts and designs, artists such as Tazeen Qayyum, Abdi Osman, Shaheer Zazai, Azadeh Elmizadeh have employed various methods and materials to not only show the ways in which Islamic visual cultures continues to inform their work, but also the challenges, possibilities and implications in doing so.
Each print issue features a limited-edition risograph print by emerging Afghan-Canadian artist Shaheer Zazai printed by Vide Press. Zazai is known for creating complex imagery based on Afghan rugs using Microsoft Word — transforming the tools and aesthetic of the centuries-old tradition.
BlackFlash and Nadia Kurd are grateful for the generous support from Canada Council for the Arts for the production and dissemination of this issue.
Editorial Features:
Thinking Through Infinities and the Possibilities of Art Making
By Nadia Kurd
Muslims in Canada Archives (MiCA): Transforming Canada’s Representational Lens
By Moska Rokay
The Thin Line Between Modernity and Tradition in Queer Performance
By Abdi Osman
Distance, Difference, Destiny
By Tazeen Qayyum
Azadeh Elmizadeh, A Hundred Times, Why?
By Tammer El-Sheikh
“The Art of the Hustle”: How Photographer Faisa Omer is Reclaiming Beauty Standards and Breaking Barriers Through Storytelling
By Timiro Mohamed
In Keeping House: Radicalizing the Mundane as Potential for Reconciliation
By Yasmeen Nematt Alla
Traditions Unbound: An Interview with Jamelie Hassan
By Nadia Kurd
Grief, Tenderness, and Kinship: The Work of Habiba El-Sayed
By Sanaa Humayun
Of Land, Performance, and History: A Profile on Alize Zorlutuna
By Sam Shahsahabi
The Fiction of a Fixed Point: The Films of Rolla Tahir
By Nehal El-Hadi
Infinities Responses:
La-makan
By Nur Sobers-Khan
Everything/And
By Charlene K. Lau
Going Down Memory Lane While Reading About Islamic Art in Canada
By Ibrahim Abusitta
Where is Blackness in Islamic Art?
By Su’ad Abdul Khabeer
Cover Image:
Samar Hejazi, Little Blue-six, 2021. Tatreez (Palestinian embroidery) from The Intricacies of Wholeness series, 20 x 10 cm. Photo by Jessica Thalmann.
