UK: Art show highlights ‘racism’ against Muslims due to ‘Islamophobia’

1. Islam is not a race, and Muslims are not all of one race. There are Muslims, as well as jihadis, of all races.

2. Opposition to jihad violence and Sharia oppression of women and others is not “racism” or “xenophobia.”

3. Printing slogans on signs in pseudo-Arabic and pseudo-Urdu is not art.

4. Faisal Hussain is not oppressed or marginalized. He is a privileged member of Britain’s new elite. He has an art show featured at a gallery. Would the same gallery feature an exhibitions of slogans about opposing jihad terrorism and the oppression of women justified by Sharia? Not on your life.

“Art show takes on global Islamophobia,” by Lauren Codling, Eastern Eye, April 28, 2021:

AN ART exhibition exploring the “victimisation” of Muslims in the UK and abroad is a response to the rise in racism against the community, its creator has said.

Faisal Hussain’s Suspect Objects Suspect Subjects (SOSS) analyses the impact of government policy and monitoring of the Muslim community, the multi-faceted channels used to influence bias and its subsequent effect on individuals.

Although currently available to view virtually, it will be open to view from May 18 at SOAS’s Brunei Gallery in central London (dependent on government guidance).

In an interview with Eastern Eye, Hussain said SOSS was his response to the global rise in racism against Muslims. The manner in which Muslims were represented in the media, as well as the online abuse and racist attacks the group endures were additional contributing factors.

“It was affecting who I was, so I felt the need to respond,” the 43-year- old artist explained. “I began adopting a more analytical approach to what different media were reporting and what actions the UK government was taking in different ways in Birmingham through failed surveillance and educational interventions.”

Hussain is known for using everyday items to get his point across – whether it is a kebab shop sign inscribed with the words “Go Back to Where You Hate From”, or the “positive facade but harmful core” of cupcakes to symbolise the government’s Prevent scheme.

The Birmingham-based artist is known for incorporating humour into his work too, using it as a mechanism to question perceptions on identity and race. For instance, an installation of toy guns titled Muslamic Rayguns is a reference to the viral video of an English Defence League (EDL) march from 2011. An individual partaking in the EDL event was mocked for his incoherent views on his reasons for joining the protest….