Mosque Manifesto

Mosque Manifesto offers a repertoire of ways in which creative forms of Islamic representation may foster better understanding between cultures, and generate a critical response. Narrated in the form of a manifesto, this monograph brings together a unique range of mosque-themed projects created by artist and architectural historian, Azra Akšamija.

The first all-encompassing publication of Azra Akšamija’s vast body of work on the topic of the mosque, this monograph features 163 color pages of Akšamija’s highly innovative mosque designs, including wearable mosques. Offering a completely new and unique approach to designing mosque architecture, and wiring and criticizing representation of Islam in the West, the book cover itself can be unfolded into a small prayer niche with a compass for finding the direction of Mecca. As such, the book cover is also an artwork and a mini-mosque.

Akšamija deconstructs the formal and conceptual definitions of the mosque, envisioning it as a performative space to foster dialogue between cultures.

Foreword by Finbarr Barry Flood and afterword by Nebahat Avcıoğlu.