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- Convenor:
-
Mirjam Lücking
(LMU)
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- Format:
- Workshop
Short Abstract:
This workshop discusses the changing accessibility and visibility of (European) Muslim heritage, including archival heritage, popular culture, public space, tourism and heritage sites and representations of heritage in mass media, schoolbooks, and the internet.
Long Abstract:
While right-wing populists and parties gain support all over Europe with their claim that Islam does not “belong” to European societies, profound historical research has of course given evidence that Islam – or more precisely Muslim traditions, cultures and peoples – has played and continues to play a crucial role in European history. Nevertheless, the significance of Islam for the constitution of the continent’s social, cultural, economic and political life is often neglected and not adequately represented. A key issue in the ignorance about Europe’s Muslim traditions is the limited accessibility and visibility of European Muslim heritage. In recent years, this field has become more contested, with change agents on the one hand, who seek to promote the visibility of Islam and Muslim history in Europe, and deniers on the other hand, who reject all Islamic elements as what they label as “foreign intrusions”. In addition to these public negotiations, economic aspects of globalization, such as halal tourism, modest fashion or religious music, promote Muslim heritage and Muslim spaces as an economic asset.
The workshop is open for presentations on research in/about archives, museums, public space, popular culture, heritage sites and more broadly representations of history and heritage in entertainment, mass media, education, schoolbooks and online spaces.
Accepted contributions:
Contribution short abstract:
Muslims in the Americas and southern Spain reclaim the largely silenced heritage of Al-Andalus. While the former speak of reversión rather than conversión, Muslims in Spain associate Islamic cultural revival with sustainability and alternative concepts of nature, service, learning and community.
Contribution long abstract:
Al-Andalus: From 711 to 1492, the Iberian Peninsula belonged to the Muslim Empire, which left its mark on architecture, science, philosophy, art and agriculture. The reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula by the Spanish kings, which ended with the conquest of Granada in 1492, and the conquista that began a new era with the so-called discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus in the same year, are closely linked ideologically. Both events were characterised by violence, oppression, control and forced conversion to the Christian faith. While converts in Latin American countries today invoke this Muslim heritage when they frame their conversion to Islam in a predominantly Catholic society as a reversión - a return to the roots that were forcibly torn from them - and associate it with solidarity, empowerment and self-determination, a form of return is also taking place in southern Spain. Here, communities are rediscovering a Muslim heritage and linking it to issues of sustainability and alternative concepts of nature, service, learning and community life. Drawing on empirical examples from both sides of the Atlantic, I will show how Muslims are reclaiming a heritage that plays only a minor role in hegemonic European and Latin American discourses of identity. Through volunteer programmes, public events and debates, teaching units, open doors and retreats, these actors engage both local and transnational Muslims and non-Muslims to make visible an almost forgotten past, thus challenging the dominant narrative of a predominantly Christian imprint in Europe and the Americas.
Contribution long abstract:
Granada, a city in Andalusia, Spain, is characterized by a number of contested heritage sites that reflect the complex negotiations surrounding historical memory and identity between Muslims and non-Muslims. The city's identity has been shaped by its legacy, which includes both the Islamic Al-Andalus period and the subsequent Christian Conquista. As a result, Granada embodies a cultural identity that is influenced by these historical eras. Muslims view Granada as a symbol of a Golden Age marked by coexistence and rich Islamic heritage, while non-Muslims, particularly Spanish Catholics, see it as a triumph of Christianization and national unity. This clash of historical interpretations creates a context in which different meanings are assigned to and commercialized through iconic sites like the Alhambra, where Islamic aesthetics are often depoliticized and romanticized for tourism, stripping them of their historical and religious significance. Reconciling these competing narratives is complicated by lingering colonial and nationalistic biases that favor dominant Christian-European interpretations. Granada's heritage highlights the need for an approach that is critical, respectful of its multicultural past, and sensitive to the power dynamics influencing contemporary narratives. Many Muslim tourists today seek to voice their concerns regarding this representation. This eight-month ethnographic research project aims to explore how Muslim tourists in Granada identify, articulate, and express their perspectives on this contentious heritage. The findings illustrate the significant role that various stakeholders play in maintaining the dominant Christian-European interpretation of these cultural assets.
Contribution short abstract:
The researchers and curators examine how art resists anti-Muslim racism in Austria. Tracing instances of racialized state violence and discussing the Muslim*Contemporary art festival, they show how community-based art challenges oppression and reclaims public spaces for marginalized communities.
Contribution long abstract:
The lecture by Asma Aiad and Anahita Neghabat is based on the 2020 police raid in Austria, in which over 60 Muslim households were targeted. This police raid against the Muslim community in Austria, known as Operation Luxor, was ultimately declared a failure, a mistake that shook and broke the Muslim community in Austria. The first edition of the art festival Muslim*Contemporary (organized by Asma Aiad and Salam Oida and supported by the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna) in Vienna in 2021 critically addressed Operation Luxor through visual art and archival material. The 2021 festival's response to this case of state violence was politically attacked by the right-wing ruling party, which accused the festival’s artists of promoting "political Islam" and "left-wing extremism."
Aiad and Neghabat will discuss the historical continuities of state violence against racialized communities in Austria, including Black, Roma and Muslim groups. They will highlight their work that demonstrates how art serves as a powerful tool for resistance and transformation in a post-migrant context. Their insights will include the history and current state of anti-Muslim racism, structural discrimination and racialization processes in Austria and beyond. Understanding the colonial roots of contemporary anti-Muslim racism is crucial to understanding the marginalization of Muslim communities, who are often excluded from mainstream discourse and leadership roles despite their longstanding presence since the 10th century and their official recognition in Austria since 1912.
Contribution short abstract:
Dominant groups in Bulgaria monopolize memoryscapes, marginalizing Turkish-Muslim minorities. Museumification of mosques limits minority visibility, turning religious spaces into state-controlled sites. This study explores minority strategies to counter dominant narratives and assert cultural memory
Contribution long abstract:
Dominant groups often monopolize the construction of memoryscapes, shaping collective memory to align with their ideologies. However, minority groups challenge these narratives through alternative strategies. In Bulgaria, the Turkish-Muslim minority faces significant barriers to establishing their memoryscapes due to limited political power. Efforts to assert visibility often provoke backlash from central authorities. Museums, historically tools of nation-building, continue to reinforce dominant ideologies and legitimize oppressive policies. In Bulgaria, regional museums in Kardzhali, Razgrad, and Smolyan serve as remnants of state-socialist policies that marginalized minorities. Recently, the Bulgarian state has intensified efforts to museumify Muslim religious spaces, converting mosques in Stara Zagora, Karlovo, and Kyustendil into museums. These policies aim not at preservation but at restricting these spaces' use as places of worship, limiting the spatial and cultural visibility of Turkish-Muslim communities. Drawing on eighteen months of fieldwork conducted between 2009 and 2023, this study examines how these museumification policies are used to control minority narratives and restrict their representation in the public sphere. It also explores the agency and strategies of Turkish-Muslim minorities to counter these hegemonic practices at regional, national, and transnational levels. The research highlights the politics of visibility and memory in contemporary Bulgaria, where dominant and minority groups contest cultural spaces and narratives.