Brooklyn, New York
Multimedia, Social Practice

ALHAMDU (short for al-hamdu li-llāh الحمد لله) is an evolving experiential art installation and archive created by MIPSTERZ that explores Muslim Futurism—a cultural and artistic imagining of a Muslim future free from the oppression of today, set in a utopic tomorrow of our collective, multi-chromatic creation. ALHAMDU visually and interactively envisions a future where “Third Culture” is the dominant wave, where Muslims exist loudly alongside each other in their found-families. The project revolves around five core themes that reflect legacies and intersections that have come to define American culture and history: imagination, identity, community, resistance, and liberation. ALHAMDU consists of a physical and digital immersive art installation and related public programs, exploring each theme from an artistic and academic lens and interactively considers what “Muslim Futurism” means, draws from, and works toward. The installation consists of original MIPSTERZ artwork and works from Muslim and Muslim-adjacent/ally artists. The accompanying programs are designed to be accessible and expert-informed to foster meaningful dialogue. They invite artists, academics, community leaders, and thought-provokers to contribute to our growing archive and broaden this exploration of Muslim Futurism.

Since 2013, MIPSTERZ has been a non-traditional collaborative space for an emerging generation of Muslim creatives in film, music, and visual art. Their first film Somewhere in America spawned a thriving digital community and was featured in academic, cultural, and public spaces around the world. MIPSTERZ has received awards from Zoo Labs, Knockdown Center, the Shed, and the Kennedy Center to produce curated and original works such as the social performance GOOD FUN MUSLIM FRIENDS CLUB. Alongside more than 100 Muslim creatives, Abbas Rattani, Sara Alfageeh, Sumer Zuberi, Shimul Chowdhury, and Yusuf Siddiquee began developing ALHAMDU in 2018 and recently received support from DDFIA’s Building Bridges Program.