Review by Steve Cooke
A workshop aimed at encouraging Muslim men to explore their artistic side has gone viral on TikTok. The clip posted online shows a room full of Muslim dads diligently working on their own pieces of art.
The video is titled ‘the most wholesome three days’. As it starts the caption ‘POV: Hosting workshops for Muslim men to explore their creative side’ flashes across the screen with a pop song as a backing track.
Hundreds of people have responded to the video with comments like “All I do on this app is cry.”, "Why am I crying?", “Where do I sign my dad in?” and even lengthy messages like: “So great for them to slow down and regulate emotions and explore themselves and their gifts. Needed for their souls in this crazy world of ours.”
The video was posted on the TikTok account, ‘lifeindetail’ which is run by local artist Zahirah Hafiz. Zahirah led the viral workshop in Rochdale.
The 29-year-old from Burnage said the video resonates with people because it shows a different side to Muslim men.
“Running the workshop was really wholesome because as everybody was working there was conversation around the table about toxic masculinity", she told the M.E.N.
“They talked about there not being spaces and opportunities for men to be in tune with their creative side.
“It’s something that’s been needed for a long time. There are so many opportunities for Muslim women because there’s not that much of a stigma."
Local artist Zahirah Hafiz
“I just think that the conversation around men being in tune with their emotions is a topic that’s not encouraged enough. One of the dads that was there said he had been so distracted with the hustle and bustle of life it was something that he really needed and appreciated."
“I’m hoping the knock-on effect from this is people getting their dads involved and kind of normalise it.”
One of the participants for the workshop was retired Zahir Siddique, a 72-year-old from Rochdale. He heard about the workshop from his wife, who had seen it mentioned in a Whatsapp group. She thought it would be of interest to him due to his love for Islamic art.
“I enjoyed it a lot,” He told the M.E.N. “The video puts this mindset into people that learning isn’t just for the young, it’s for adults as well."
“It was very therapeutic, and it was very spiritual to me because of the numerology and the link to Islamic art. I’ve always tried to enable and empower young women.
“This kind of work can be male dominated, but this was an eye opener for me to see people like Zahirah.”
The group was 'therapeutic' for Zahir
The workshop was part of an initiative by Rochdale based artists network, Culture Co-Op. The programme began as a space for Muslim men who were interested in Islamic art.
Held every Saturday from 12-4pm at Richard Studios in Rochdale city centre, the group was treated to an Arabic calligraphy masterclass with artist Razwan Ul Haq and then woodwork and Islamic geometry classes by Zahirah.
The group is currently having a small break, but organisers Shazia Bibi and Bushra Sultana plan to set up more in the future.
Shazia Bibi said: "The inspiration behind the workshop was to provide a space for Muslim men to hone their craft. They are professionals, fathers, brothers, grandfathers - all who came together for the past months to learn and create Islamic Art."
"We are hoping to achieve a space of learning and connection for the group of men. A space where we reignite artistic men to hone into their craft and be part of a community who support each other."
"It is not easy to work in Imperialist structures so the response from around the world makes me feel as a producer the importance of creating work and opportunities that transcends borders. It is the response which feels significant and relevant in our current challenging times."
"We also received Islamophobic comments whilst producing this project but we saw the importance of holding the space and the result of resonation is in the Tik Tok video."
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