Interview with Rahul Patel
I read the interview with Rahul Patel – and it was a very interesting piece to read. Rahul Patel is a researcher in contemporary art history and theory. Rahul also designs and curates exhibitions.
I share a similar narrative to Rahul.
I grew up in a Hindu and Buddhist household. I used to go (now occasionally) to temples to pray and celebrate festivals related to my faith, [it is a bit complicated to explain] but I see my faith as more of my family culture/ tradition.
In no way I would want to disregard or distort any religion. I understand the importance of religion. Looking at my own grandmother, I understand how religion played a big part in her life – and my mother too, who would organise ceremonies to receive blessings and protection for our family. The importance of these ceremonies and beliefs was comforting and a form of healing for them. When I first came to the UK, the area I lived in had no Buddhist or Hindu temples – I was aware of the growing Nepalese population, however, there was no space to pray or have a community like back home. Only after years, a Buddhist prayer hall was formed.
This space brought so many Nepalese followers together to pray – it was a safe space where everyone gathered for blessings and in a way, belonging, in the area where it was shockingly normalised to hear the phrase ‘go back to your country’ on a daily basis.
Rahul in his interview talks about Islamophobia and how Muslim women are seen as oppressed objects. This narrative has been pushed by the media so much that there is no question of who is telling this story? And what sort of narrative are they trying to move forward? Instead, it carries on portraying the “same stereotypes, systems of fear, and caricatures” (Khaked Beydoun, 2017). The subject of islamophobia made me think back on an article I had previously read – how Muslims are precepted as exclusively Arab even though it is a multiracial and ethnic faith group. Islam is a religion but it has been racialised.
At the end of the article (interview), the question of if religion, spirituality and faith increase or decrease creativity is asked – personally, I agree that religion, spirituality and faith can increase creativity. I myself as a student wanted to create work that was based on my family’s beliefs/ traditions – I wanted to connect/ understand more. Initially, it was a hard process for me because I wasn’t exposed to/ aware of work/ resources that talked about faith/ spirituality/ religion. This often left me questioning the value of my work – will people understand? Will the assessors find my work ‘acceptable’ as it doesn’t fit into the dominant euro-centric narrative?
If learners want to create work that talks about their religion/ faith/ spirituality, then I believe it is important to suggest resources that are influential and mindful of the learner’s practice. I must be aware of the resources I share with learners – will it benefit the students to learn about different narratives when incorporating them into their own development/ practice? Are the resources being shared inclusive? In this article, artist Neil Rumming suggests sessions of ‘lecture that focus upon religion in art,’ and ‘creating reading groups around faith’ where reflection and discussions can occur.
This resource can be given to students to read, reflect upon and encourage acceptance – it is important to understand that we human beings come from different backgrounds and experiences, and the space where we all come together should be inclusive so meaningful narratives are being shared.
Further resources:
Your comments on your blog are excellent .the fact that you have a Personal experience with the topic. it good to understand your point of view. i agree faith as a huge inpact on art. just look at history you can see that all the great art works have religious views to it.
Hi Luke, thank you so much for your comment. My positionality/ my lived experiences have always been an inspiration for me when I create work around these subjects. I agree that faith plays a huge impact on art but within our higher education conversation about religion, faith, beliefs tend to be underrepresented/ disregarded.