Exhibiting Faith

• S2 E01 • Mahtab Hussain: What Did You Want To See?

  David Trigg speaks to Mahtab Hussain, an artist who uses photography, film and sculpture to investigate the Muslim experience through themes of identity, displacement, and belonging.Mahtab was raised in Birmingham, where he fell in love with photography at Joseph Chamberlain College before studying the subject at Nottingham Trent University and Goldsmith’s College, London.While working in the museums sector, he became frustrated about not seeing his own community represented in art, and he returned to photography in 2010, going on to create award winning projects such as You Get Me? a series of intimate photographic portraits examining the identity of young British Asian men.In this episode, Mahtab discusses his recent work, the British Muslim experience and his personal journey to faith. The conversation focusses on his solo exhibition What Did You Want to See? at Birmingham's Ikon Gallery.Commissioned by Ikon and Photoworks, What Did You Want to See? addresses themes of surveillance, visibility and the act of looking in relation to the Muslim community in Birmingham and beyond. The exhibition responds to a covert counter-terrorism operation known as Project Champion, which in 2010 placed thousands of Muslims living in Birmingham under the watchful eye of more than 200 CCTV cameras. Officials claimed that the scheme was a local policing initiative but, after the true purpose of the cameras was revealed, local outrage forced the scheme to be abandoned.*** Please note that this episode makes reference to racist language that some listeners may find offensive ***Artworks discussed in this episode can be viewed on Instagram @exhibitingfaithFor more information on What Did You Want to See? visit the Ikon Gallery website.To learn more about Mahtab Hussain and his work visit his website and follow @mahtabhussain on Instagram.Support the showIf you've enjoyed this episode, please consider buying me a coffee

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• S1 E05 • Laura Moffatt: Ecclesiart

  David Trigg speaks to Laura Moffatt, director of Art + Christianity, an organisation seeking to foster and explore the dialogue between art, Christianity and other religious traditions.Since the 1990s, Art + Christianity has forged relationships with galleries, institutions and places of worship through projects, events, and publications. It also works to raise awareness of the rich heritage of modern and contemporary art in church buildings.Laura studied Fine Art at the University of Newcastle and Arts Criticism at City, University of London. Before becoming director of Art + Christianity, she worked for Art Monthly and the Hoxton gallery, PEER. She is a member of The Diocesan Advisory Committee for the Care of Churches and sits on the Church Buildings Council, which advises on the care, conservation and development of church buildings. Laura speaks about her work with Art + Christianity and takes us on a tour of London churches to visit a selection of modern and contemporary artworks that the organisation is documenting as part of its Ecclesiart project.Artworks visited:John Hayward, interior murals, St Michael & All Angels, London FieldsRona Smith, North Elevation, Lumen United Reformed Church, BloomsburyStephen Cox, Adam and Eve, St Luke's Church, ChelseaEcclesiart currently lists more than 80 permanent works of art in churches and cathedrals, reflecting the diversity of commissions and charting developments in ecclesiastical art and design. Artworks discussed in this episode can be viewed on Instagram @exhibitingfaith and on the Art + Christianity websiteSupport the showIf you've enjoyed this episode, please consider buying me a coffee

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• S1 E04 • Matthew Krishanu: Painting About Religion

  David Trigg speaks to the London-based painter Matthew Krishanu, whose figurative paintings explore themes of childhood, religion and the legacies of colonialism. Matthew was raised in Bangladesh in the 1980s, a formative period which has inspired several bodies of work, from paintings based on his childhood adventures with his brother, to his Mission series addressing his father’s role as a priest in the church of Bangladesh, and his House of God paintings, which depict church buildings in the Bengal landscape.Matthew’s paintings of religious meetings, ceremonies and churches are painted in a simple and abbreviated style with thin washes of paint and bold, assertive marks. Yet his uncomplicated aesthetic belies a complex web of historical and cultural undercurrents that serve to problematise his beguiling images. Matthew’s interest in making paintings about religion led to his Religious Workers series, created for the Southbank Centre’s Everyday Heroes exhibition in autumn 2020, which responded to the Covid-19 pandemic with a vivid outdoor celebration of key and frontline workers.Whether addressing religion, the legacies of Western imperialism, or the history of religious art, his works resist polemics, instead inviting conversation and contemplation.Artworks discussed in this episode can be viewed on Instagram @exhibitingfaith @matthewkrishanu and on Matthew’s website website: www.matthewkrishanu.com Matthew’s first monograph will be published by Anomie Publishing in spring 2023: www.anomie-publishing.com/matthew-krishanu/Support the showIf you've enjoyed this episode, please consider buying me a coffee

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• S1 E03 • Alastair Gordon: Art and the Christian Imagination

  David Trigg speaks to artist, writer and mentor Alastair Gordon about the Christian imagination and how art and faith intersect in his work.Alastair’s meticulous paintings draw on the tradition of Quodlibet, a little known 17th-century genre of illusionistic painting, in which collections of everyday objects are depicted scattered across tabletops or pinned up on boards. Reimagining quodlibet for the 21st century, Alastair paints snapshots of the artist’s studio, where materials relating to the making of paintings are all rendered with exacting detail. In these works, still life mingles with landscape to address weightier concerns of truth, beauty, and faith.As a writer, Alastair has reflected on the relationship between art and faith through several books, exploring from a Christian perspective what it looks like to work with integrity as an artist and religious believer. Alastair's work as a mentor has helped countless artists think clearly about how their personal faith connects with their work, bringing clarity, encouragement and challenge to believers working in the arts. Artworks discussed in this episode can be viewed online via Alastair’s website: www.alastairjohngordon.com and on Instagram @alastair_gordon @exhibitingfaithLearn more about Alastair’s work with Morphé Arts: www.morphearts.org Alastair’s book, Why Art Matters, is available now, published by IVP: ivpbooks.com Support the showIf you've enjoyed this episode, please consider buying me a coffee

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• S1 E02 • Farwa Moledina: Women of Paradise

  David Trigg speaks to Birmingham-based textile artist Farwa Moledina about her exhibition Women of Paradise at Ikon Gallery.Raised in Dubai in a Muslim family, Farwa moved to the UK in 2010, where she studied at Birmingham School of Art. Since graduating in 2018, she has been making textile-based works, which, through the use of pattern and Islamic design principles, address themes of feminism and faith, and scrutinise the portrayal of Muslim women in the canon of western art. Her work aims to stimulate a more nuanced debate regarding female Muslim identity and the way in which Muslim women are viewed.Farwa’s new textile work, Women of Paradise, is a response to the singular religious narratives that dominate western museums and galleries. It is a study of the four women promised paradise Islamic tradition: Aasiyah, the adoptive mother of Moses; Khadijah, the wife of the Prophet Muhammad and Fatimah their daughter, and Maryam the mother of Isa, otherwise known as Mary, the mother of Jesus. Conscious that galleries and museums rarely contain depictions of Mary outside of the Christian imagination, Farwa provides a different perspective on this figure, who is of important religious and cultural significance in Islamic countries.In addition to her exhibition at Ikon Gallery, she discusses two earlier works: Thawra (2020), which focuses on revolutionary Muslim women and the erasure they have faced throughout history; and By Your Coming We Are Healed (2020), a work made during the first national Covid lockdown that focusses on Ramadan in the time of the pandemic.Artworks discussed in this episode can be viewed online via Farwa’s website: www.farwamoledina.com and on Instagram @farwamoledina @exhibitingfaithLearn more about Women of Paradise: https://www.ikon-gallery.org/exhibition/women-of-paradiseSupport the showIf you've enjoyed this episode, please consider buying me a coffee

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