Flocking Mosque
Textile Installation (2008)
Commissioned by Manifesta 7, Rovereto, IT
Inspired by the geometric motifs of Islamic art, the Flocking Mosque juxtaposes these patterns with the five daily prayers of quotidien Muslim life. One “flower-circle” of this mosque can accommodate a prayer of twelve worshippers, by providing clean surfaces for those body parts that touch the ground during the prayer ritual. Each flower-circle consists of twelve pairs of slippers, twelve pairs of hand pillows, twelve head pillows, and a center bag with twelve prayer beads. The use of these pillows as “mini-prayer-rugs” is meant to create a visual analogy to religious rules of behavior, which in turn mystically represent the Islamic doctrine of unity in multiplicity, the al-Tawhid.
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Project commissioned by Manifesta 7, for the group exhibition manifeSTATION, curated by Andreas Spiegl and Christian Teckert.
Materials: Textile pillows, prayer beads, qibla compass
Concept and design: Azra Akšamija
Production: Azra Akšamija (prototypes), Ismeta Kratovac (prototype development), “Plasman” d.o.o. Sarajevo (sewing)
Photographs: Azra Akšamija
Also see: Azra Akšamija, Mosque Manifesto: Propositions for Spaces of Coexistence. Berlin: Revolver Publishing, 2015.