Photographs of Muslims in America Displayed at Birmingham-Southen College by Kirin Nabi

Its remarkable if you think about it, that in today’s Islamophobia filled America, that a small southern college would invite a photographer to display his exhibit on American Muslims and the event would be a positive experience for all.

Photographer Robert Gerhardt’s exhibition “Muslim American/American Muslim” opened on Friday, Sept. 1, at the Durbin Gallery on the campus of Birmingham-Southern College, with a speech by the artist the night before, and remained open and free to the public through September 28.

Twenty five pieces hung inside the Doris Wainwright Kennedy Art Center/Azar Art Studios

Professor Steve Cole, Professor of Art at Birmingham-Southern College was involved in inviting Gerhardt.  “Robert Gerhardt's exhibition was a result of a search for exhibitions for our gallery which was posted in the College Art Association website.  The faculty and senior students looked at many exhibition proposals and Robert's was one which we decided was both educational and technically (artistically) well done.”  

With previous exhibits covering the lives of the Karen people who live along the Thailand/Burma border in South East Asia, daily life in Pakistan in the cities of Karachi and Lahore, and the Black Lives Matter protests in New York City, Muslim American/American Muslim is an ever evolving exhibit that he is regularly adding to as he travels.  When he was here in Birmingham, “he came to the HCIC Masjid and took pictures of the Arafah dinner, and also came to the Civic Center on the day of Eid,” said Birmingham Islamic Society President Ashfaq Taufique.

“I first became interested in a reportage about Muslim Americans in 2010 after reading about a controversy over converting an unused convent on Staten Island in New York into a mosque and community center that was planned by the Muslim American Society (MAS),” said Gerhardt.  “Many local residents vehemently protested the intended repurposing at various community board meetings, including the shouting-down of a US Army officer who simply asked if people would be willing to be good neighbors with the mosque.  But as I was following the protests in the newspapers, I realized that many of those people who were doing the protesting had never been in a Mosque.  So I wrote to the MAS and asked them about the possibility of doing a project, and then introduced me to a Mosque in Brooklyn.  That community gave me free reign over a year to photograph their community.  And from there the project expanded.”

The Nabi children each found a favorite photograph in the collection.

 Showing Muslims in their daily lives, playing sports, praying, napping, learning.  The Nabi children ages 10, 8, and 6 each found photographs they liked and related to.  Haroon Nabi, 6, liked the picture of the little girl sound asleep at the mosque while her father prayed.  “It is quiet and peaceful, sometimes it's so hard to stay awake,” he said. Yusuf Nabi, 8, liked the picture of the inside of the Quran best. And Zainab Nabi, 10, found the t-shirt reading, “My name causes national security issues. What does yours do?,” hilarious.  All were in awe that Muslims were the subject of the gallery and that other people, non Muslims, were interested in seeing the exhibit as well.

The photographs have “been exhibited in college and university galleries all over the country, as well as many publications.  Recently it was shown at The Museum of the City of New York in their exhibition "Muslim in New York," and the museum acquired 12 of the photographs for their collection,” said Gerhardt.

“So far the reception of my work has been very positive, from what people have told me.  People seem intrigued by seeing into the lives of the Mosques and their communities that many people who come to my exhibitors have never seen or experienced before,” he said.

Professor Cole agreed, “ I don't know the exact number of students and visitors but it was very well attended, as was the lecture by Mr. Gerhardt.  I did overhear some positive remarks regarding the lecture and I am sure that the work in the gallery received the same.”

The experience has been positive for the school, the visitors to the gallery, and for the photographer as well.  “My impression of the Muslim American community has been one of friendship.  All of the communities that I have visited have been very open and friendly with me. They have been made me feel at home, even though I am an outsider.  They have taken time to get to know me, and welcome me in their midst.  It has been a wonderful experience,” Gerhardt said.  

Only 25 pieces hung inside the Doris Wainwright Kennedy Art Center/Azar Art Studios, to see more of the artist’s work, please visit his website www.robertgerhardt.com