Cape Town - Potentially one of the most moving and intimate moments shared by a bridal couple, more specifically a Muslim bride, towards the end of the wedding ceremony as she is greeted and gently ushered out of the wedding venue and into the next phase of her journey, has been exquisitely captured and will be exhibited this week in Cape Town.
Our Cape Town Heritage (OCTH) in collaboration with KnexT – Art Gallery will be presenting the first solo exhibition of local wedding photographer Rizqua Barnes, titled The Wedding Salawaat.
The exhibition offers a glimpse into the powerful moment in which the bride is traditionally covered in faux fur by elderly women, known as hajjis, and gently ushered and greeted as attendees form a queue-like path in which the bride emotionally receives embraces, while the salawaat is recited.
The salawaat is a prayer considered a source of grace and blessing in remembrance of the prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him).
The photographic works will be on display from May 4 to 6 at KnexT – Art Gallery in Harrington Street, Gardens.
“Over time I watched how wedding traditions had faded but the one thing that’s still there is the salawaat … At the end of every wedding, there’ll be a salawaat and that always makes me feel like there is some sort of protection that the family is putting on every bride. Every bride or every family reacts the same way. It’s a moment of happiness and a moment of sadness,” said Barnes, who has been photographing weddings for the past 13 years.
“(Lately), the younger generation don’t feel the need to have this tradition anymore. Maybe because either their parents force it on them, so they don’t know what the meaning is, so my exhibition will explain all of this and why it’s nice to keep certain traditions close to us,” she said.
You Guys I've been busy... trying to contain myself and keep cool about this...but "Waaat, my First Solo Exhibition" - This Thursday- First Thursday! pic.twitter.com/msqDPC5Kwy
The black and white exhibition will see the removal of distractions such as colour so as to convey the enormity of the moment.
OCTH was established in 2022 as a non-profit organisation to share artists’ cultural work and to see themselves in the artwork, said one OCTH director, Tashneem Abrahams.
“The art world is very exclusive and not a very accommodating place so I think it’s important for us to change this in a way and also to show people why art is so important, art relating to culture,” she said.
OCTH hopes to have two more exhibitions later this year, with an Arabic calligraphy exhibition in August and a painting exhibition in December.
OCTH plans to amplify the voices of marginalised artists and create a welcoming learning space of accessibility to all communities.