Qawwali, the ecstatic devotional music of Sufism, has endured for centuries as a collective ritual of remembrance, yearning, and transcendence. Its hypnotic repetitions, clapping rhythms, and soaring voices are not just performance but prayer—poetry sung into being. In recent years, New York City and Brooklyn have witnessed a striking revival of this form. Groups reinterpreting the repertoire of masters like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan in jazz clubs sit alongside traditional ensembles that keep the classical structures alive in community halls and religious spaces. This presence is not an import or an exoticized performance for outsiders; it is evidence of qawwali’s capacity to carry memory across oceans, to sustain belonging, and to transform diasporic landscapes into sites of devotion.

This exhibition translates the energy of qawwali into a visual and spatial register. It will present contemporary artworks across multiple media—sound installation, video, sculpture, photography, and painting—that respond to the music’s defining qualities: geometry, rhythm, repetition, devotion, and ecstasy. Archival photographs, concert posters, manuscripts, and translations of classical Sufi poetry will anchor the contemporary works within the longer history of the form. Listening stations and sound installations will immerse visitors in historic and recent qawwali performances, while periodic live events with New York–based ensembles will bring the gallery into direct contact with the music’s communal energy. The exhibition refuses to separate visual from auditory, history from contemporary practice, or spirituality from aesthetics.

Too often, Sufism is framed in the West as a mystical alternative to Islam, sanitized and decontextualized as a universal spirituality detached from religious practice. This project resists such distortions. It insists that Sufism is inseparable from Islam, and that qawwali is not an ornamental curiosity but a devotional practice grounded in theology, history, and ritual. By presenting qawwali as both living tradition and generative inspiration, the exhibition positions itself as an act of cultural preservation—safeguarding a form long threatened by erasure, while allowing it to resonate with new audiences and contexts.

The timing is urgent. In an era of deep misunderstanding of Islam and increasing cultural amnesia, qawwali offers a counter-narrative rooted in beauty, collectivity, and devotion. In the diasporic spaces of New York, where the music now flourishes, this exhibition builds a bridge between preservation and innovation.