Presented as part of ‘The 8th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’.

‘Pop Islam’ is a cinema project that explores representations of Islam in contemporary film, documentary and video art. The reach is global, stretching from Australia and South-East Asia, through the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and Africa, while also visiting communities in Central Asia, Europe and North America. Co-curated with Australian-Lebanese artist Khaled Sabsabi, it seeks to demonstrate diverse experiences and opinion for the more than 20 per cent of the world’s population who are practising Muslims.

While ‘Pop Islam’ is located within the present, Islamic popular culture is not a recent concept. Aspects of its beliefs, customs and ideals have a discursive tradition inspiring art, music, literature and cinema of broad appeal. The works in ‘Pop Islam’, however, reveal expressions derived from a networked culture in which satellite television serials are infused with moral subtext; fashion magazines integrate Islamic sartorialism with Western commercialism; and revolutions begin on Facebook. The contemporary Islamic world revealed in ‘Pop Islam’ is one where young people in particular, shape their own distinct version of religious practices and institutions and re-imagine their possibilities.

‘Pop Islam’ exists at a time when religion continues to be a polarising subject in media and politics, and differing interpretations of Islamic ideals feed division and violence globally. It seeks to offer local audiences a more nuanced representation of contemporary Islam and considers some of the recurring ideas explored by artists and filmmakers throughout the region, such as an unease between tradition and secularism and national and religious identities, and the experience of spirituality within the tapestry of everyday life and specific contexts of religious and cultural pluralism. Consumed at the level of entertainment, these works have a deeper resonance, revealing alternative ways in which Islam is practiced and exists side-by-side with other secular lifestyles.

Khaled Sabsabi is an Australian artist working in a video and installation. Since the late 1980s he has engaged communities to develop projects that reflect the complex nature of culture and identity in particular, the global connections between people and places facilitated by history, migration and technology.

PLEASE NOTE: Farida Belyazid’s Bab Al-Sama Maftuh (A Door To the Sky) 1989 will no longer screen as part of this program. It is replaced with Jocelyne Saab’sDunia (Kiss Me Not on the Eyes) 2005.

This breathtaking collaborative project is on show as part of The 8th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT8) from Saturday November 21 to Sunday April 10. The APT8 will showcase work by more than 80 artists and will reflect the vigour of expanding creative centres throughout Asia and the Pacific. In addition to the exhibition itself, APT8 encompasses APT8 Live, an ongoing program of artist performances and projects; a conference as part of the opening program; extensive cinema programs; publications; and activities for kids and families.  See more information online. Entry is free.

Image one: Production still from A Sinner in Mecca 2015 / Director: Parvez Sharma /Image courtesy: the artist and The Film Sales Company, New York
Image two: Production still from Timbuktu 2014 / Director: Abderrahmane Sissako / Image courtesy: the artist and Le Pacte, Paris