This exhibition was originally organized and published by the Brooklyn Historical Society.
For well over a century, Muslims have lived, worked, and prayed in Brooklyn, making it a major center of Muslim life for NYC and the nation.
The lives and work of Muslims in Brooklyn span many ethnicities, cultures, and nationalities; as such, these diverse Brooklynites have both shaped and been shaped by life in Brooklyn.
An Opening, an installation of audio and visual artworks by Brooklyn-based artist Kameelah Janan Rasheed, engages with a multiplicity of Muslim experiences in Brooklyn. Eleven large-scale prints by Rasheed are placed in conversation with audio narratives from oral histories drawn from BHS's recent Muslims in Brooklyn project. The result is an immersive encounter with art and sound that challenges narrow conceptions of Muslim identity and history.
Muslims in Brooklyn is a history and public arts project which amplifies the stories of Brooklyn’s diverse Muslim communities. For well over a century, Muslims have lived, worked, and prayed in Brooklyn, making it a major center of Muslim life for New York City and the nation. As such, the histories and experiences of Brooklyn’s Muslim communities hold great resonance for national conversations on religious diversity and pluralism.
An Opening, part of the Muslims in Brooklyn project, is made possible through the generous support of Constance L. Christensen; AT&T; Ford Foundation; Nissan Foundation; Pillars Fund; and public funds from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the NYC Council, with special thanks to Council Members Robert E. Cornegy, Jr., Rafael Espinal, and Brad Lander.
Additional funding for Muslims in Brooklyn generously provided by Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art’s Building Bridges Program; New York Community Trust; and Pop Culture Collaborative, a fiscally sponsored project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.
Brooklyn Historical Society programs are also made possible by the New York State Council of the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.