Return of the Mecca: The Art of Islam and Hip-Hop
Department: Humanities Center
Date and Time: October 21, 2014 - November 22, 2014 | 8:00 AM-10:00 PMEvent Location: William Grant Still Art Center, 2520 West View Street Los Angeles, California 90016
Event Details
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| | For images and more information, also visit returnofthemecca.comInformation from the William Grant Still Art Center website:
Exhibition Dates: October 4 to November 22, 2014
Exhibition Times: Tuesday through Saturday, 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
This exhibition is part of the LA/Islam Arts Initiative, a citywide cultural celebration and programs hosted by the City of of Los Angeles, Department of Cultural Affairs and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation from September -December 2014.
Return of the Mecca: The Art of Islam and Hip-Hop showcases how the vibrant history of hip-hop culture was deeply influenced by its relationship to Islam.
Rakim. Public Enemy. A Tribe Called Quest. The Roots. Ice Cube.The Wu Tang Clan. Mos Def. Lupe Fiasco. These are some of hip-hop’s most significant and influential artists. But very few know that these artists, like so many others, identify as Muslim and are connected to the larger world of Islam. Guided by figures such as Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali, hip-hop culture was dominated by its relationship to Islam. From the foundation of Zulu Nation in the early 1970’s, to the “Golden Age” of hip-hop (1986-1995), and onto the present, Return of the Mecca will showcase these histories through film, video, sound, photography, album cover art, and other media. From the earliest slaves to street corner orators…Black Arts to the world of sport…the prison house to the political platform…and jazz to hip-hop, Black Muslims forged an alternative Black consciousness that imagined themselves not as a national minority, but as part of a global majority.