The muslim theological doctrine says that, after his death, the believer which during his life has not followed the right path will suffer an early corporal punishment, while waiting for the Judgment Day. Besides, according to Islam even the worshippers of other divine inspired religions could enter Paradise, because in the end of days only Allah can decide their faith. Is it then possible, that some Mexican people with Maya heritage but converted to islamic religion could already enjoy a divine prize in advance? This is what the photographs Giulia Iacolutti took in Chiapas among a muslim community of tzotzil actually wonder. Having embraced the new beliefs thanks to the coming, in 1995, of a few Mirabitum muslims, these women and men are inheritors of an indigenous millenary tradition but nowadays are living a form of syncretism that has lot to teach to everybody, and that transpires from the serene and never forced portraits, landscapes and details photographed by Iacolutti during her experience in their homes and of their rituals. The most recent chapter in a professional path focused on identity, dignity and sense of belonging, “Jannah” (from the the word for the islamic paradise garden) is a direct and intimate representation where everything, from the colors to the ratio of the images, from the looks to the composure of the people potraied, tells about a pacific cohabitation of different but clearly not so dissimilar instances. Thanks to this work, on display at Antiche Carceri in San Vito al Tagliamento from June 22nd to September 1st, Giulia Iacolutti has won the 33rd Friuli Venezia Giulia prize as best regional author, held by Centro di Ricerca e Archiviazione della Fotografia of Spilimbergo (Pordenone).
The islamic paradise garden does exists, and is located in Mexico
Photographer Giulia Iacolutti’s latest work tells a story of coexistence between Islamic religion and Maya traditions in a small Chiapas community.
View Article details
- Raffaele Vertaldi
- 17 June 2019
May 15, 2016. The mosque of the Spanish Muslims, San Cristobal de las Casas City, Chiapas, Mexico. The group of Sufi Murabitun Muslims from Spain started building the mosque more or less in 2012, but is still unfinished. The building has a 17-meter minaret, visible from more than three kilometres away. The minaret will call to the azhan adhan (prayer), five times a day. It is not known yet whether the access will be granted to indigenous Muslims.
May 15, 2016. The Ahmadi mosque, Nuevas Esperazas, San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico. Ahmadiyya is an Islamic movement founded in the Punjab, British India, at the end of the 19th century, inspired by the life and teachings of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908). The Ahmadi movement identifies itself as Muslim and follows the teachings of the Koran. However, it is regarded by orthodox Muslims as heretical, because it does not believe that Mohammed was the final prophet sent to guide mankind.
May 14, 2016. Molinos de los Arcos, San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico. A sajjāda, a prayer rug used by Muslims, placed between the ground and the worshipper to ensure cleanliness during the various positions of the Islamic prayers, spread out in the garden. Yahya, Imam of the Sunni Mosque Alkawzar, brought these rugs as a present from his pilgrimage to Mecca
September 12, 2016. Molinos de los Arcos, San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico. Salama Palamo Diaz was born muslim in 2000; in March of 2016 she gave birth to her first daughter, Asia. In the picture she wears the traditional tzotzil wool skirt and she poses in front of a maize field, staple food of the Indigenous Mexican Community.
November 24, 2016. San Cristobal de las Casas City, Chiapas, Mexico. Domingo López Ángel is the second indigenous convert, also one Leader of the Council of Indigenous Representatives of the Chiapas Highlands (CRIACH).
May 14, 2016. San Cristobal de las casas, Chiapas, Mexico. Siamese embalmed calf in a butcher shop.