15 Mar 2020

Exhibition created by Muslim community

From Standing Room Only, 12:47 pm on 15 March 2020

A year after the tragic events in Christchurch how does the New Zealand Muslim community feel about living here?

Today shows one way of commemorating it. Wellington photographer Russell Kleyn and writer Janie Walker worked with the community members at Kilbirnie Mosque to share their experiences, at an exhibition of portrait photos and collective writing.  It was to get its first outing at the mosque's open day - but that has been cancelled to avoid any risk of spreading the Covid-19 coronavirus. 

The writings were the result of a creative writing workshop, and they are often stunning in their simplicity and directness. Before I talk with Russell, Janie and from the Kilbirnie Mosque Tahir Nawaz, here's a piece from Leila, one of the Kilbirnie community.

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Photo: Supplied