Dr Julie Marsh and Shahed Saleem celebrate the cultural heritage of London’s oldest Nigerian community in recent exhibition

This exhibition explored the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of London’s oldest Nigerian community, the Muslim Association of Nigeria (MAN UK). This association originated in the 1960s as a transient group until the 1980s, when a more permanent community began to form. Their first place of worship, the Old Kent Road Mosque in Southwark, was established in 1993. In 2018, approval was granted for a six-storey mosque to be built on the site as both an act of devotion and a practical response to a growing community. In September 2021, the original building was demolished to make way for the new mosque.

Featured in the gallery were two expanded moving image installations created by Dr Marsh during a five-year collaboration with the Old Kent Road Mosque congregation. The floor installation, titled Assembly (2024), attempts to filmically perform Islamic prayer through a moving projection. Originally filmed and exhibited in the original mosque, this film now serves as a record of the final Jumu’ah (congregational) prayer that took place before the mosque closure. A large wall projection, Virtual Assembly (2023), is an interactive 3D model of the original mosque building hosting stories and accounts from mosque members. The audience is encouraged to navigate the site using a controller to trigger these insights as they move around the space revealing the lived experiences and embodied knowledge of the community. 

Both works question the nature of a community archive and explore how the narratives of community members are embedded in and told through the architecture of their sacred spaces. The adjoining community events programme curated with Shahed Saleem also presented opportunities to connect with the Old Kent Road Mosque community and congregation through workshops and events. These included a memory and future archive workshop and an Open Iftar, a meal to celebrate the breaking of fasting during Ramadan. 

Programme Coordinator Elizabeth Bailey of Staffordshire Street Gallery said: “Faith, Place and Migration was such an embodied, wholehearted and poignant show. It's been such a pleasure seeing Julie, Shahed and the Mosque's vision come to life and take over the gallery space. The Iftar was such an incredible event. With over 250 visitors over the weekend - our invigilators lost count after 100 at the Iftar! We had some beautiful feedback from the Iftar, particularly around the genuine embedded community art created.”

Professor Mashood Baderin, Resident Islamic Consultant at the Old Kent Road Mosque Islamic Cultural Centre, said: “The Faith, Place and Migration exhibition opened a new vista to how community cohesion can be achieved with hitherto academic topics becoming issues of public participation. Community members came together to share thoughts, foods and dreams of a better future of all.”

Dr Marsh is an artist and researcher at the Centre for Research and Education in Arts and Media (CREAM) at the University of Westminster and Co-Director of the CREAM Doctoral Programme. She helped develop and will teach on the new Global Contemporary Arts MA and the Art and Emerging Technologies MA at the University. Dr Marsh and Shahed Saleem previously worked together in 2021 in collaboration with the V&A Museum for the Three British Mosques exhibition at the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale. 

This exhibition directly contributed to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. Since 2019, the University of Westminster has used the SDGs holistically to frame strategic decisions to help students and colleagues fulfil their potential and contribute to a more sustainable, equitable and healthier society.

Learn more about courses in Art, Design and Visual Culture at the University of Westminster.