For women in the UK and Canada looking to be part of an art-loving movement that celebrates Muslim communities, look no further than Muslim Sisterhood, a London and Vancouver-based art collective nurturing creativity and community. What started off as a simple Instagram page for expressing art would grow into something more, providing photoshoots for models while representing Muslim women in Western communities. Over the years, Muslim Sisterhood has also undertaken a number of key collaborations, as well as hosted exhibitions at the prestigious V&A Museum’s Friday Lates.
The art collective was founded by Lamisa Khan, Zeinab Saleh, and Sara Gulamali with the intention of providing a digital platform for Muslim women to connect and express themselves. Via a Zoom call, Gulamali recently told Vogue that their Instagram account showed off art, but was also a mean for Muslim women to connect both online and offline.
“We started connecting and meeting people with our Instagram acting as an archive of everyone we had met. [...] They'd come as strangers and then leave as best friends. So, we naturally formed all these relationships,” she said.
Muslim Sisterhood prides itself in helping Muslim women connect. In 2020, for instance, as COVID-19 lockdowns restricted Ramadan activities and gatherings, it partnered with Daily Paper in showcasing fellow sisters representing the “embodiment of Ramadan,” while coming together to celebrate Eid Al Fitr. The art collective had also grown to include workshops where fellow sisters can learn new skills such as making incense.
In addition, Muslim Sisterhood has been building partnerships through known brands and merchandising. In 2021, the founders partnered with Nike in promoting the launch of “Nike Victory Swim,” a full-coverage swimwear range. Undoubtedly, swimming had always been a challenge for practicing Muslim women when it came to modesty, and Nike's full-coverage swimwear were designed to remedy the issue. The range includes tunic tops, slim and straight leggings, hijabs, and full-coverage swimsuits.
