Established in 2015, Muslimah Collective is a collaborative group of five female Muslim artists from Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat – the mostsouthern part of Thailand. The five members are: Keeta Isran, Nuriya Waji, Heedayah Mahavi, Kusofiyah Nibuesa, and Arichama Pakapet.
With the attempt to take action outside the box among the scope of equality, Muslimah Collective has been framed under hijab religious headwear over the role of womanhood, reflection from sense of beauty, and reality of people in the Deep South including their hope for peace.
In order to share their hope and strength through alternative aspects of the arts, the group wishes to capture creativity and artistic style that help characterize the way new generations of female artists focus on. To achieve the goal of such deliberate expression, Muslimah Collective aims to encourage the will and empower the skill especially of those female artists in the Deep South of Thailand.
Together, they firstly exhibited “The Way of Women” at PEOPLE GALLERY, Bangkok Art & Culture Center (2017), and participated in Bangkok Art Biennale 2018, led by Keeta Isran and Prach Pimarnman, the Director of De’ Lapae Contemporary Art Space, Narathiwat, Thailand.
For Biennale Jogja XV Equator#5, the five Muslimah present diverse body of works focusing on Muslim ways of life in PATANI, along with one practice-led research based work by Nuriya Waji who’s experienced a one-month-residency in Yogyakarta.
Photo source: bkkartbiennale.com
