Doctoral Project:

Mythological Migrations: Imagining Queer Muslim Utopias, Aalto University, Espoo, 2017 - Present

Mythological Migrations: Imagining Queer Muslim Utopias examines formations of queer identity, resistance, and community in Muslim migratory contexts through contemporary art practice. The investigation emerges from an urgent need to critically interrogate and expand queer Muslim immigrant perspectives in response to the rising Islamophobia, racism, anti-immigrant sentiments, homophobia, and transphobia in the west over the last two decades (Haritaworn 2012; Luibhéid 2008). Simultaneously, the project seeks to challenge the widely held belief that Islam and liberal conversations on gender and sexuality are inherently contradictory to open and expand the contextualization of queer Muslim migratory identities (El-Tayeb 2012). Building upon critical transnational feminist and queer intersectional scholarship, Qureshi argues that the multitude of issues of exclusion, rejection, and fetishization experienced by queer Muslim immigrant bodies are not isolated but a direct consequence of the dominant and hegemonic structures of colonialism, capitalism, and patriarchy (Grosfoguel 2011; Said 1978). Extending Maria Lugones’ (2010) notion of feminist border thinking and her call for coalition in-the-making, Qureshi combines artistic and curatorial strategies to challenge and re-imagine queer Muslim migratory positionalities and possibilities.

The dissertation includes two artistic components, Chapter 1: The Nightclub (2019) and Chapter 2: The Darkroom (2020), and a monograph. The artistic components are pre-examined and approved by the doctoral committee at Aalto University. The monograph will be completed in 2025. 

Supervisor and Advisor: Professor Mira Kallio-Tavin, University of Georgia, USA
Advisor: Jeuno Kim, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Supported by: Kone Foundation, Finland

Chapter 1: The Nightclub

Commissioned by Publics for Today Is Our Tomorrow Festival, Club Kaiku, Helsinki, Chapter 1: The Nightclub is a one-night multidisciplinary exhibit that addresses exclusionary histories in European culture that target immigrants and bodies of colour.

13 September 2019

Photographs courtesy: Aman Askarizad, Kush Badhwar, and Joni Korhonen, 2019

Program:

Premiere of Journey to the CharBagh
A film by Abdullah Qureshi, with Danai Anagnostou as Producer, and Directors of Photography: Hadi Rehman and Kerttu Hakkarainen.

Performance by Meera Band
Classical music; covers of Fairuz, Dalida, and Warda Al Jazairia

Where are you from?
A film by Tamara Al-Mashouk

Alif is for Awakening
A performance by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto

Chapter 2: The Darkroom

Organized virtually, in collaboration with Gay Sauna Vogue, Helsinki, and Centre for Feminist Research, York University, Toronto, Chapter 2: The Darkroom examines critical views on cruising, erotic spaces, and liberatory sexual practice from queer, Muslim, and BIPOC perspectives

28 – 31 October 2020

The program includes artistic contributions, films, and talks, featuring:

Tamara Al-Mashouk, Morehshin Allahyari, Lina Bembe & Max Disgrace, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Mustafa Boga, Yara El Safi, Sunil Gupta, Jaya Jacobo, Abdi Osman, Blake Paskal, Hadi Rehman, Anthony Rosado, Queering Space x Amani Saeed, Umair Sajid, Begum Taara Shakar, and Derrick Woods-Morrow.

Chapter 2: The Darkroom
Talk Schedule

October 28
16:00 EET; 10:00 EST
Chapter 2: The Darkroom
Introduction
Abdullah Qureshi
Hosted by the Centre for Feminist Research, York University, Toronto. Co-Sponsored by The School of Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies, The Sexuality Studies Program, and School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design

17:00 EET; 11:00 EST
Artist Panel
Queerness Elsewhere
Hadi Rehman, Begum Taara Shakar, and Umair Sajid in conversation with Abdullah Qureshi

18:30 EET; 12:30 EST
Artist Panel
Unraveling and Revealing: Intimate Encounters
Abdi Osman and Yara El Safi in conversation with Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Hosted by the Centre for Feminist Research, York University, Toronto. Co-Sponsored by The School of Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies, The Sexuality Studies Program, and School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design


October 29
17:00 EET: 11:00 EST
Queering Space x Amani Saeed
Ihsan, a spoken word performance and conversation

18:30 EET: 12:30 EST
Panel Discussion
Much Handled Things Are Always Soft
Derrick Woods-Morrow, Blake Paskal, and Anthony Rosado in conversation with Tamara Al-Mashouk

October 30
17:00 EET: 11:00 EST
Artist Talk
Sun City and Beyond
Sunil Gupta

18:30 EET; 12:30 EST
Panel Discussion
Trans and Femme Perspectives on Art, the Erotic, and Representation
Jaya Jacobo, Lina Bembe & Max Disgrace in conversation with Danai Anagnostou


October 30
17:00 EET; 11:00 EST
Artist Panel
Reversing the Orientalist Gaze
Tamara Al-Mashouk, Mustafa Boga, and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in conversation with Abdullah Qureshi

18:30 EET: 12:30 EST
Conclusion
On process, organization and collaboration
Abdullah Qureshi & Danai Anagnostou in conversation with Mira Kallio-Tavin

Supported by

Cluster for Critical Artistic Research (CCARe), established in 2019 as a research group within the Department of Art at Aalto University, Finland, is a network and platform of/for artistic researchers looking at issues of critical artistic research, feminist and queer studies, intersectionality, postcolonial and decolonial studies, posthumanism, new materialism, practice and collaboration, and experience-driven knowledge. The group brings together a community of doctoral students, post-doctoral researchers, and faculty members at the university.

Members include Freja Bäckman, Rebecca Close, Marie-Andrée Godin, Jon Irigoyen, Dr. Mira Kallio-Tavin, Ali Akbar Mehta, Dr. Julia Valle Noronha, Marina Valle Noronha, Tiago Martins Pinto, Abdullah Qureshi, Sepideh Rahaa, and Dr. Timothy Smith.

Website

Research Output:
Publication: Co-edited with Mira Kallio-Tavin and Marie Andrée Godin. (2021, December).  Critical Artistic Research as Practices of Care. Research in Art and Education. https://journal.fi/rae/issue/view/8030