Birmingham 2022 Festival: Islamic prayer celebrated in immersive performance

An immersive theatre show exploring faith across the West Midlands is set to take place as part of the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games' cultural festival.

Waswasa - Whispers in Prayer combines art, music and movement to celebrate underrepresented communities in and around the city.

The performance has been described as offering a window into Islamic prayer.

Audiences can see the show at the Birmingham Hippodrome from 25 August.

The performance has been designed to showcase positive representations of faith in order to challenge negative portrayals of Islam and the Muslim community, Mohammed Ali MBE, the artistic director of Soul City Arts, said.

It will also include hundreds of bespoke prayer mats that will be created in the lead up to the performance and displayed in the theatre, inscribed with prayers which local people are being invited to submit.

Wawasa is the Arabic word used to describe distractions from prayer and Raidene Carter, the festival's executive producer, said she hopes the event will allow audiences to "take a moment to reflect on stories that need more discrete moments of celebration".

She said the "seminal project... emphasises that people from across the Commonwealth are connected through their faith".

Mr Ali, who is from Birmingham and has exhibited around the world, said he was "incredibly proud" to deliver the project and wanted to demystify the tradition of Islamic prayer through the performance.

"We hope this performance will give the audience a window into the Islamic world and in some small way bring communities together," he said.

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