Project Summary

ALHAMDU | MUSLIM FUTURISM is an evolving art exhibition and archive created by MIPSTERZ—an arts and culture collective that curates, enables, and amplifies creators of marginalized Muslim backgrounds. The exhibition explores Muslim Futurism, a cultural and artistic approach inspired by Afrofuturism that imagines a broader Muslim future free from the oppression of today, set in a utopic tomorrow of our collective creation.

Exhibition Details

ALHAMDU | MUSLIM FUTURISM is a multidisciplinary exhibition with related public programs set around five themes: imagination, identity, community, resistance, and liberation. Each theme is explored from an artistic, community, and academic lens that interactively considers what “Muslim Futurism” means, draws from, and works toward. The exhibition collection includes a variety of work from paintings, photography, illustrations and sculptures to installations, digital media, soundscapes, film, virtual reality, and interactive experiences. The exhibition opens at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College on Sept. 13, 2024, and is on view through Jan. 11, 2025. The collection of work consists of original MIPSTERZ artwork and contributions from Muslim, Muslim-adjacent, and ally artists from around the world and locally. We invite all artists local to Colorado Springs and the surrounding areas in the region to contribute to the exhibition and the growing archive of work under the umbrella of “Muslim Futurism.” The five themes that help to contextualize Muslim Futurism are defined as:

• Imagination: the expression of cultural aesthetics and celebrations of joy related
  to a utopian future.
• Identity: identity creation and the effects of hegemonic structures on personhood, dignity, and thriving in all forms.
• Community: the social variables leading to the coalescing of individuals around shared values.
• Resistance: the embodiment of progressive struggles and movements against various forms of systemic oppression.
• Liberation: visions of a “free” existence and utopia, and for whom.

We are looking for all types of artwork, including but not limited to painting, illustration, calligraphy, collage, sculpture, photography, film/video, sound/music, textiles, poetry, and performance. Written submissions should be open to adaptation to multiple formats.

We are especially interested in immersive, interactive, participatory, experiential, and sculptural artworks, particularly those created by Black, Indigenous, LGBTQ+, Muslim, Muslim-adjacent, and/or allied artists.

Submission Process

Artists are invited to submit one artwork for consideration to be included in the exhibition. Artists whose works are included in the exhibition will receive a $300 honorarium. Submitted artworks will be reviewed by the MIPSTERZ team based on relevance to Muslim Futurism and Afrofuturism, or Futuring/Futurism more generally. Selected works will be showcased within the exhibition at the Fine Arts Center between Sept. 13, 2024–Jan. 11, 2025, and in an online digital archive. Selected artists must deliver artwork to the Fine Arts Center for inclusion in the exhibition (located at 30 West Dale Street, Colorado Springs, CO, 80903) and pick up the artwork once the show concludes. Please contact info@mipsterz.com with any questions.

Deadline to Submit: July 31, 2024 by 11:59 p.m. MST