Students gathered at Stylus Hall on January 31 for the unveiling of renowned Muslim artist Aadil Abedi’s new installation on campus. The artwork is part of the university’s new Muslim prayer space and community center at the USC Religious Center.
The Muslim Student Association (MSU) hosted an event to honor the newly renovated space. Abedi and the Dean of Religious Life, Varun Soni, spoke at the ceremony, which featured a prayer recitation from a Sheikh.
Talha Rafique, a senior majoring in quantitative biology and the president of MSU, said the organization intended to “revamp” the Muslim culture on campus, and renovated this space to create a safe environment for Muslim students.
“Not only are we getting two paintings today that are custom-made by a very well-renowned artist, but we’ve also renovated the rooms entirely,” Rafique said. “We went from expanding from one room to now two physical rooms on campus. What it means to the community is a growing, fostering community that expanded from 30 people from when I started to about 250 members.”
At the event, Soni said this space will bring people together to have impactful conversations in the presence of meaningful art.
“Art is the ultimate creative expression of what it means to be human, and religion is a language for thinking about what it means to be human,” Soni said. “So for us to come together on this last day of a difficult month—to celebrate art, to celebrate what it means to be human, is especially powerful and moving.”
Also referencing the importance of art in religion, Abedi spoke about his commitment to creating art that is emblematic of Muslim values and culture.
“As an artist, as a visual storyteller, I feel it’s become my responsibility over the last few years to showcase the beauty of our script in a very unconventional way—just the fun side of our faith and spirituality as Muslims,” Abedi said. “The work you’ll see here is a very abstract, deconstructed version of my interpretation of the Arabic script.”
Abedi is a local artist, originally from London, whose work is inspired by traditional calligraphy and contemporary abstract design elements. He has collaborated with Disney, Meta and Apple.
The space is open to all students, regardless of religious affiliation, every weekday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.