A response to BlackFlash’s Fall/Winter issue “Infinities.”
Abdi Osman
Abdi Osman is a Somali-Canadian multidisciplinary artist whose work focuses on questions of black masculinity as it intersects with Muslim and queer identities. Osman’s video and photography work has been shown in Canada and internationally in both group and solo exhibitions.
Referencing social media works by African, Muslim, non-binary trans artist Maroodi, Abdi Osman discusses the ways in which the legacies of colonialism and imperialism shape debates on sexual minority cultures in the African, Black, and Muslim worlds.
‘Infinities’ 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, and Jamelie Hassan 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.