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Combating Islamophobia through Art

Recent controversy within the political sphere largely falls upon President Trump’s travel ban, particularly targeting Arab countries. Islamophobia has persisted since 9/11 and such policies have not mitigated the negative stigma surrounding Arabs, typically motivated by anti-Muslim beliefs regardless of their religious practice, in the United States. However, the collaborative effort of New York institutions seeks to reduce sustained prejudices through cultural appreciation.

Created by the Misk Art Institute, the yearlong Arab Art and Education Initiative integrates and promotes Arab culture through art exhibitions, walking tours, and talks. By spreading awareness of and stimulating conversation on Arab history and art, a network of politically motivated and culturally appreciative institutions holds the potential of changing the outlook of Muslims in one of the biggest cities in the U.S. This includes the Brooklyn Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum, and even partners such as Columbia University and the United Nations.

Essentially there are two networks at play: those who promote and support Islamophobia versus those combating Islamophobia within the Arab Art and Education Initiative. In consideration of the dominance and expansion of Islamophobia, particularly in Western countries, negative perceptions of Muslims exist through a network of individuals who share positive edges due to similar beliefs. Based on the Structural Balance Theory, if two individuals hold such similar thoughts to one another vocally Islamophobic individual, those two are likely to have a positive relationship as well, taking away prejudicial ideas from the common “friend” and potentially spreading their own thoughts to expand this network. This specifically can target those who are not completely aware of Islamic ideals, but are fixated on extremist interpretations of the religion featured on the news, allowing them to join this positively balanced network through skewed information on social media, news networks, etc. On the other hand, the network founded on the art initiative is another structurally balanced network, but consists of triangles of friends with a common enemy – Islamophobes and prejudicial policies alike. Within these institutions, there is a complete network in which connects New York together in a positive effort against the last edge to each triangle. Both social networks rely on the ability to expand each towards an end goal, utilizing the spread of information, or misinformation, to their advantage.  

Articles:

“Initiative Brings Arab Art to New York Museums” by Andrew R. Chow (NY Times)

https://www.artforum.com/news/yearlong-arab-art-initiative-to-kick-off-in-new-york-this-fall-76496

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