EXHIBITION
Three Britisth Mosques 2021
V&A Special Project Applied Arts Pavilion at the 2021 Venice Biennale
Installation view of Three British Mosques at the 2021 Venice Biennale © V&A
In collaboration
with the Victoria and Albert Museum and architect Shahed Saleem the Three
British Mosques exhibition was made for the Applied Arts Pavilion at the
2021 Venice Biennale. The pavilion looked at the self-built world of adapted
mosques through 1:1 reconstructions of their highly decorative mihrabs, minbars and
other architectural elements. Most mosques in the UK have been created by
adapting existing buildings – from houses, shops, cinemas, pubs as well as
other former places of worship. Often communities actively fundraise to build
new mosques on these sites to better meet their community's needs. The history
of the mosque in Britain is one of cultural dialogue, with different histories
merging and presenting new opportunities for our urban fabric to evolve.
As part of the pavilion, Julie Marsh was commissioned by the V&A to conduct a series of interviews with members of the congregation at Brick Lane Mosque, Old Kent Road Mosque and Harrow Mosque, allowing individual worshippers to tell their personal stories of their relationship with their own mosque. Alongside the interviews, a series of films of congregational prayer, made as part of ‘Assembly’ project, were shown as part of the exhibition. Films of congregational prayer show the community in action, and individual worshippers tell personal stories of their relationship to their mosque in a series of interviews.
For more information: please visit V&A website.
As part of the pavilion, Julie Marsh was commissioned by the V&A to conduct a series of interviews with members of the congregation at Brick Lane Mosque, Old Kent Road Mosque and Harrow Mosque, allowing individual worshippers to tell their personal stories of their relationship with their own mosque. Alongside the interviews, a series of films of congregational prayer, made as part of ‘Assembly’ project, were shown as part of the exhibition. Films of congregational prayer show the community in action, and individual worshippers tell personal stories of their relationship to their mosque in a series of interviews.
For more information: please visit V&A website.