Thursday, July 13, 2006
IslamExpo
It has been 4 days since IslamExpo ended and one thing I can say is that I was pleasantly surprised. Usually what happens in an islamic event is chaos. Starting 2 hours late is a must and goes without saying, let us not forget the over crowded hall and children running around screaming and crying, and there is ALWAYS a shortage of chairs. IslamExpo however was the complete opposite. Don't get me wrong, it was extremely crowded, but in a good way, people were actually moving to look at thing and not standing around passing time. On the first day the event was meant to start at 10:30 but started at 11 due to the exhibition not being ready, so for health and safety reasons people were not allowed in.
The event took place in Alexandra Palace, otherwise known as 'Alley Palley'. It is a gorgeous location set within 196 acres of glorious parkland, the Palace features an extraordinary blend of Victorian splendour, fascinating history and modern technology (i stole that from their website). When entering the main enterance u are greeted with a grand arabian style tent harbouring goodie bags for the schools kids attending the event. After entering it you walk down a long corridoor known as the 'Time Walk'. the Time Walk held several plasma screens displaying the different empires of Islam throughout history eg. the Ottomans of Instanbul, Ummayads of Syria, the Alusians of Cordoba, Abbasids of Baghdad and the Mughals of Arga. It made for a fascinating journey though time. At the end of the time warp u are met with the Great hall containing the Knowledge Zone, workshop areas, stalls, lounge area and cafeteria, khayaal theatre and prayer area. It displayed an array of faith, culture, science, art and histroy. The different areas in the knowledge zone included the Five Pillars area, the Quraan Wing, Islamic Tree of Khowledge, Islam and Science, the Art and Calligraphy wing, Muslims Around the World (which was a fantastic exhibition by world class photographer Peter Sanders), the Sounds of the Muslim World corner, the Timbuktu corner and Islam in Britain.
The event was a field day for the media and press. there were reporters and camerman EVERYWHERE. you had journalists and photographers, some known, others not. at least 4 came to speak to me and wanted an interview. i don't do tv, but i agreed to one. im dreading watching myself on tv, hopefully no one will see it!
All in all it was really diverse and educational. I believe that the non muslims that attended were pleasantly surprised to see what muslims have to offer and what they are about. The aim of IslamExpo was to build bridges between the muslims and the non muslims. I don't know if we've achieved that, perhaps it's a stepping stone for bigger things. What i do know is that it will take more than a 1.5m exhibition to make muslims heard and respected in our society. However, it's a start and may open doors for us. only time will tell i guess... the only downfall to the event in my opinion is that there werent as many non muslims as i'd liked. maybe they were a bit apprehensive to come or didn't hear about it.
¶ 12:00 am
