Thawra / ثورة View 1

Farwa Moledina’s work is concerned with the lived experiences of Muslim women. This piece explores the erasure that Muslim women have faced throughout history.
Its title ‘Thawra’, meaning ‘Revolution’, is a term and concept which gained momentum and notoriety in the protests of the Arab Spring in the early 2010s.
The work comprises a pattern woven through columns of gold thread. An unwoven outline of Alaa Salah, one of many Sudanese women leading protests against the government in April 2019, is central to the work.
This image of Salah taken by photographer Lana Haroun went viral on social media, although largely only within Muslim communities. Moledina’s choice to leave the outline unwoven is a political one and symbolises the erasure of Muslim women’s histories and contributions. The pattern woven within hints at the nature of Moledina’s work, obvious to those who have a knowledge of the complex histories of Muslim women. This work was part of the 'Thirteen Ways of Looking' exhibition (2 October - 13 December 2020)