CulturePortraits of the Unknown aims to paint a peaceful Islam

Portraits of the Unknown aims to paint a peaceful Islam

This article was published on January 21, 2015 and may be out of date. To maintain our historical record, The Cascade does not update or remove outdated articles.
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By Mitch Huttema (The Cascade) – Email

Print Edition: January 21, 2015

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There is a tendency in Western culture to forget the contributions of Eastern civilization, and to paint an unflattering portrait of Eastern culture.

In his series, Portraits of the Unknown, UFV visual arts student Meshaal Alzeer brings to light the inherently peaceful and intelligent nature of Islam through portraits of little-known Islamic inventors, innovators, and scholars, which focuses on various stereotypes pinned on Islam by Western society.

Alzeer grew up in Saudi Arabia. He notes that the media can misrepresent so much, especially when it has exhaustive power over popular opinion. In his interview with The Cascade, Alzeer said the media can “make you hate your blood brother and love your enemy.”

The paintings in the series feature ancient Islamic scholars who receive little to no credit as cultural contributors in the West.

The first, Alkhawrizmi, was a big player in mathematics and was believed to have invented algebra, which he used to create systematic solutions for linear and quadratic equations. According to Alzeer, Einstein’s work was heavily influenced by Alkhawrizmi’s discoveries. Because of this relationship, Alzeer chose to portray Alkhawrizmi with his tongue out, just like the expression in Einstein’s famous photo. Alzeer used a bright colour palette to further establish a link between Eastern and Western cultures, drawing from a style reminiscent of pop art.DSC_0120

Abbas ibn Firnas, the subject of the second portrait, was the first man to successfully attempt flight, whereas the first musings on the topic are generally attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. The third man, Ibn al-Haytham, made significant advances in optics and wrote a defining and lengthy text on the subject. We begin to notice a pattern of the sidelining of Eastern contributions and the glorification of white men’s derivation of their works. But this imbalance wasn’t always the case.

“In the golden ages, Muslims, Jews, and Christians worked side by side in peace on study and innovation,” Alzeer says. “Islam encourages the pursuit of knowledge, to be at peace with different cultures and religions.”

Alzeer notes that the image of Islam as a violent religion could not be farther from the truth. The depiction of Muslim scholars in his paintings is a timely reminder that Islam is not the bloodthirsty religion portrayed in the media.

“What’s happening now is that there are a lot of people who are extremists who took the idea of Islam in the wrong way, who are not educated enough, who took verses from the Quran and interpreted them in their own way,” says Alzeer. “Right now I just want to deliver the message that Islam is based on peace, knowledge, [and] forgiveness.”

While the killings in Paris are of course a tragedy, he says they are also an opportunity for him to connect with the viewers of his work and act as an avenue of discussion over the true nature of the religion of Islam. Often, and especially in recent times because of the shootings, Alzeer says he is asked, “Does the Quran really say that? Are you really supposed to kill non-Muslims?” He says now is a great time for the gallery to open, as the topic is prevalent in everyone’s mind and he hopes to draw much attention.

“As for Paris, I have nothing to say. Nothing. It’s crazy.”DSC_0122

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