Dearborn has one the largest Muslim population in the U.S. and Michigan as a whole is in the top 10, but the faith's followers are sometimes overlooked when discussing culture and presence in the Southeastern part of the state.

University of Michigan's Stamps Gallery has hosted an exhibition, Halal Metropolis, since May 22 that explores the Muslim world in Southeast Michigan, blending "archival mate­ri­als, social and polit­i­cal arti­facts, pho­tog­ra­phy, and art to explore the con­gru­ent and con­tra­dict­ing ideas, aes­thet­ics, and cul­tures work­ing to make the halal metrop­o­lis both a real and imag­i­nary entity," according to the gallery's webpage.

Halal Metropolis features works by Amna Asghar, Qais Assali, BGIRL MAMA, Nour Ball­out, Adnan Charara, Kecia Escoe, Parisa Ghaderi, Anthony Keith Giannini, Razi Jafri, Osman Khan, Maamoul Press, Endi Poskovic, Haleem ​‘Stringz’ Rasul, and Reem Taki.

“This is part of a series of exhibitions we’ve presented in recent years that looks at the visibility, and in some sense, the invisibility of the Muslim population in our state,” artist and co-curator Omar Khan told the University of Michigan News in a recent article. “They’re very visible, but in the Detroit narrative, they’re sort of lost.”

In the same piece, artist Razi Jafri said, “Often stories about Muslims in America in general are not very nuanced. They’re presented as monolithic or single-minded. What we want people to really take away from this exhibition is an understanding of how diverse, multiethnic and multicultural we are—and we also want to highlight how Muslims are inextricable from the cultural fabric and of American history.”

I've not had a chance to see the exhibition yet, but it was recently extended to July 20, so it gives us all a chance. The show is free and the gallery is open to the public but it's still appointment only on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. with advance registration.

In June, Stamps hosted four Zoom chats discussing elements of the show and interviews with some of the artists, creators, chefs, Con­gress­woman Rashida Tlaib, co-cura­tor Sally How­ell, and more. We've collected those videos below along with some images from the gallery and additional short video interviews with some of the artists.

Gallery Talk: Muslim Feminist Futures - June 3, 7-8:30 pm - This webinar/​virtual gallery explored the work of Mus­lim women at the fore of feminism’s future. Arts & Cul­ture Orga­nizer Piper Carter, U.S. Attor­ney for the East­ern Dis­trict of Michi­gan Saima Mohsin, and Con­gress­woman Rashida Tlaib sat for a con­ver­sa­tion, mod­er­ated by Halal Metrop­o­lis cura­tor Sally How­ell, on emerg­ing lead­er­ship in the Mus­lim com­mu­nity of South­east Michigan. 

Gallery Talk: Halal Metropolis Artists Talk - June 10, 7-8:30 pm - This webinar/​virtual gallery talk explored the work of sev­eral artists included in the Halal Metrop­o­lis exhi­bi­tion. Amna Asghar, Adnan Charara, and Endi Poskovic chatted with Halal Metrop­o­lis cura­tor and artist, Osman Khan, to dis­cuss the moti­va­tions and aes­thet­ics of the art­work they have con­tributed to this installation.

Gallery Talk: Detroit Culinary Champions - June 17, 7-8:30 pm - This webinar/​virtual gallery talk will fea­ture three highly cel­e­brated chefs in Detroit, each of whom brings a new aes­thetic, new culi­nary ideas, and a new way of pre­sent­ing halal food to new audi­ences. Chefs Omar Anani, Warda Bouguet­taya, and Mamba Hamissi talked with Halal Metrop­o­lis cura­tor Sally How­ell on their respec­tive projects, the role of food in their com­mu­ni­ties, and the way their work par­tic­i­pates in redefin­ing the future of Detroit. 

Gallery Talk: Campus Campaigns - June 24, 7-8:30 pm - This webinar/​virtual gallery talk will focus on the work of Mus­lim stu­dent activists at the Uni­veristy of Michi­gan-Ann Arbor. Anis Rah­man, Jumanah Saadeh, and Zeina Reda will sit down for a con­ver­sa­tion, mod­er­ated by Halal Metrop­o­lis Project Man­ager Asma Baban, on the power of stu­dent activism within the uni­ver­sity sys­tem, the role of stu­dent lead­ers, and the spe­cific cam­paigns that ani­mate their col­lab­o­ra­tions on campus.

Christopher Porter is a library technician and the editor of Pulp.

"Halal Metropolis" runs through July 20 at Stamps Gallery, 201 South Division Street, Ann Arbor.  The show is free and the gallery is open to the public but it's still appointment only on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. with advance registration.