Janos Kummer Edition 2010: Kim Badawi
“I believe that to all events there are different truths. While in photography, an instance can legitimize an occurrence, or help construct a perspective on a specific “truth”, all other possibilities do remain possible. In light of the above, I have chosen for mission to create purposely ambiguous images; images that not only that make us ask questions but by consequence lead to stories. I begin to investigate Taqwacore after befriending Michael Muhammad Knight who at the time was also working as a journalist. Therefore, when the Muslim Punk movement – otherwise known as Taqwacore – manifested itself, I was introduced to all the subjects via the original author of The Taqwacores. Michael Muhammad Knight, himself.
Knight coined the term “taqwacore” for his novel about a Muslim punk house in Buffalo , NY , which Knight initially distributed from the back of his car in mosque parking lots across the US . In time, the book found widespread support online through internet networking sites, even inspiring the first woman-led prayer of a mixed-gender Muslim congregation in the United States in 2005. But something far grander was in the works; unbeknownst to Knight, a real Muslim punk scene was starting to emerge, based on the one he had imagined for the book. It’s around this period that I began photographing the beginnings of what was soon to become global “Muslim punk” movement.
Although Taqwacore has yet to be defined as a genre, the phenomenon today serves as a platform of creative expression for Muslim musicians, playwrights and artists from different cultural backgrounds and religious understandings throughout the North American continent. Perhaps more importantly, Taqwacore seems help to refine Muslim identity in North America and across the globe, today.”
Website: www.kimbadawi.com