Edward Grazda: New York Masjid
Overview
Presented as part of the citywide Muslim Voices: Arts & Ideas festival in June 2009, this solo photography exhibition featured selections from Edward Grazda’s documentary series New York Masjid. Created in response to the toxic, reductive stereotypes and media tropes that proliferated after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, Grazda's photographs documented the vibrant, diverse spaces of Islamic worship across New York City’s five boroughs. By focusing on the physical structures, interiors, and congregants of local neighborhood mosques, the exhibition offered an authentic visual record of community, faith, and daily life within the city.
Project Context & Curatorial Role
As Curator, I presented Grazda's photographs in the BAM Natman Room as a featured visual art exhibition during the Muslim Voices festival. The presentation highlighted how New York’s Muslim communities repurposed urban spaces—from storefronts and converted homes to custom-built landmarks—to create sanctuaries of spiritual and civic life. The exhibition challenged inflammatory media tropes by presenting an intimate, unbiased visual account of daily prayer, community gatherings, and quiet reflection across New York's boroughs. Drawing from Grazda's long-term photographic study of urban sacred spaces, the exhibition examined how New York's Muslim communities adapt architecture to establish identity, illustrating how diverse immigrant and American-born populations navigate visibility, religious practice, and belonging in post-1993 New York.
Role: Curator
Date: June 5 – 28, 2009
Festival: Muslim Voices: Arts & Ideas
Venue: BAM Natman Room, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, NY
Artist: Edward Grazda
