Muslims Making Noise!

This summer young Muslim women and trans people came together to work on video shorts in a project called Making Noise! with filmaker Sidrah Laldin. The shorts will be shown at Profile This! event at the Art Gallery of Toronto on December 4th from 6 -8.

One of the classes was held at the National Film Board where the group participated in a stop motion animation workshop. This is the short video that they created during the workshop.




See you on Friday!

Launch of 2nd Issue of AQSAzine Dec 4th. We expect you there!

We've been working on the new issue for the past year and finally it is really to be launched. If you're in Toronto join us!

Profile This! A night of art and activism by young Muslim women and trans people.


Dec 4th, 6 - 8 pm
Art Gallery of Ontario
Anne Tannenbaum Gallery School
317 Dundas Street West Toronto

Join us at Profile This! the launch of AQSAzine Issue #2 Immigration/Migration & Sex/Love/Marriage
& Making Noise! Muslim women and trans people video project

With the the launch of Jasmine Magazine's 1st Issue - the first Palestinian Magazine in Toronto!

A FREE event hosted in partnership with The AGO Youth Council

Showcasing videos, visual art, readings by Muslim artists including Azza Abbaro, Golie, Sahar Rizi, Samira Mohyeddin, Shadi Eskandani and Shara Mohammed
and
Musical performances by
Farheen Beg & Arun Chaudhuri www.myspace.com/farheenmusic
Tanya Jacobs www.myspace.com/tanyamjacobs

With Silk Screening and Zine Making Workshops

This event is part of the 16 Days to THRIVE! Challenging VIolence Against Racialized Women and Our Communities http://bit.ly/3c0YSx

For more information on AqsaZine,
Check us out on Facebook: Aqsa Zine
Follow us on Twitter.com/AQSAzine
Or e-mail. aqsazine@gmail.com

AQSAZINE is a grassroots zine for 16-35 year old women and trans people who identify as Muslim. It is a creative avenue to express ourselves, share our experiences, and connect with others.

Making Noise! is an exciting hands-on media arts training that addresses the invisibility and negative portrayals of young Muslim women and trans people in the media, supported by the Urban Alliance on Race Relations.

With thanks to our generous funders: ArtReach Toronto, Freedonia Foundation, Metropolitan Action Committee on Violence Against Women and Children, Ontario Women's Directorate and the Urban Alliance on Race Relations

Call for Submissions AQSAZINE ISSUE 2! Let's Talk about Sex and Immigration Baby!

Dear friends, lovers, sisters, allies, revolutionaries, haters and everyone in between.

Submit and spread the word about the AQSAZINE Double Issue on Immigration/Migration and Love/Sex/Marriage. Deadline for submissions May 15th 2009.

Submit if:

*Immigration and Migration: If you feel like a minority wherever you go…if your heart longs for somewhere you’ve never been but that’s burnt into your memory…If all your parents ever talk about is “back home”...If you spend your life trying to find your place… if your physical home is occupied, forgotten, or far away… if your life consists of various checkpoints, “visas in yo’ name”, lawyer consultations, applications, rejections… If you’ve been expelled, deported, refugized, rendered illegal, or erased by your “non-status”… If you’ve found a new "home away from home" that is warm, welcoming and REAL…If you’re searching for “home”—the place and the meaning…If you’ve found home in a person, community, people or state of mind… if you’ve found strength in your displacement…If you were never really given the choice…your expression is welcome here


*Love/Sex/Marriage: If you ever wonder what order the three words should come in, but often have no choice in the matter…If you believe in any or all of them and know Islam gives you the right to enjoy, even savor them… If you feel like you’ve failed your parents...If sex has been scary and filled with guilt for way too long…If you’ve stained your sheets and now you wonder what’s next?... if you have forbidden loves…if your body is someone else’s battleground…if you have (or think you have) been sexually assaulted…if fear, sex, and guilt have been twisted in your heart for far too long… if you risk so much of yourself and your safety to express love…if wherever you turn people try to marry to you off to a “handsome doctor/lawyer/engineer”…If your heart is in the right place, but your mind and body wonder……If you’ve asked many questions to which there were no answers...your expression is welcome here

Types of Submissions: Stories (fiction or non fiction); Poetry; Artwork, Photography, Visuals; media reviews; Articles, profiles, interviews; Self help booklets, tip sheets, flyers and pamphlets; Any other form of personal art or writing

Confidentiality: Submissions will not be reprinted without the author's permission. You can use your first and/or last name, a pen name, or even remain completely anonymous. We want you to feel safe in making a contribution. Send us your submissions, questions, resources, information aqsazine@gmail.com

Peace, love and hugs

AQSAZINE TEAM

AQSAZINE Issue# 1 Launch - Be there!!

Come Celebrate Resistance and Self Defense at the Launch of the Premiere issue of AQSA Zine

We're holding a launch party for the zine on Thursday Feb 27th from 7 - 9 at the Toronto Women's Bookstore located at 73 Habord Street.

Join us for a night of readings, spoken word, poetry by Muslim women in Toronto and beyond from the forthcoming AQSAZINE Issue #1: resistance and self defense.

Artists include: Shadi Eskandani, Rosina Kazi, Golie and many more.

Please note that the use of camera, audio and/or visual recording devices will not be permitted during the launch. 

If you want a copy of the zine but cannot make the launch - contact us at aqsazine@gmail.com, we'll hook you up. 

Donations are welcomed, proceeds will be used for forthcoming AQSAZINE issues. We regret that the bathroom is not wheelchair accessible. 

Attention Muslim Young Women & Trans People!! Call for Submissions for AQSA Zine Issue #1

Attention Muslim Young Women & Trans People!!
Call for Submissions for AQSA Zine Issue #1
 
This Issue's Theme: Resistance and Self-Defense
Because you spend your life fighting back with a smile or fist
 
Deadline: December 1, 2008

 
About Us: AQSA Zine is a grassroots print zine, as well as an on-line community
(aqsazine.blogspot.com) that is open to all women and trans people who self-identify
as Muslim (13 to 35 years old). It is a creative avenue for us to express ourselves,
share our own experiences, and connect with others.  In Arabic, “aqsa” implies the
furthermost, as in reaching out to furthest possible. Aqsa zine aims to inspire
struggling to the utmost that we can. “Aqsa” is also the first name of the 16-year-old
Muslimwoman, Aqsa Parvez, who was murdered by her family members on
December 16, 2007. We recognize her murder as physical form of patriarchal
violence, and the response to her murder from public institutions as Islamophobic,
racist, and patriarchal. This zine is also inspired by Muslim young women and trans
people who experience and resist violence. We work within an anti-racist,
anti-Islamophobic, anti-imperialist, pro-choice, queer and trans positive framework.
Our aim is to organize and document grassroots movements of Muslim young women
and trans people working to end violence in all its forms. 
 
Why Submit: Because you’re tired of feeling fragmented and you know your body
shouldn’tbe anyone’s battleground. Because you don’t like being told who is Muslim
and who isn’t. Because you know you aren’t anybody’s erotic exotic. Because you’re
frustrated with people speaking slowly to you just because you are wearing a hijab.
Because you're sick of people asking “why don't you wear hijab?” OR telling you
you're not Muslim enough because you don't wear hijab. Because you’re bored by
the question “you’re gay and Muslim?” Because you don’t want to see anymore of
your family members profiled and harassed by the police. Because you hate being part
of the “random” check at airports. Because you spend your life fighting back with a
smile or fist. AQSA Zine is a safe space to tell our stories, and to share and learn our
herstories. Because WE SPEAK FOR OURSELVES.
 
Types of Submissions: Anything goes! Send us your stories (fiction or non-fiction),
poetry,artwork, photography, comics, graphic designs, recipes, open letters to
your past or futureself or anyone else, ideas, opinions, rants, book/music/art/TV
or movie reviews, essays, articles, and/or profiles of or interviews with Muslim
women and trans people. We want to learn about your dreams, hopes, fears,
strategies for self-care, forms of resistance, and the grassroots movements against
violence that occurs within and against our communities.
 
Confidentiality: Submissions are confidential, and will not be reprinted without the
author’s permission. Send us a note along with your submission letting us know whether
you would like to be identified on your piece. You can use your first and/or last name,
a pen name, or even remain completely anonymous. We want you to feel safe in making
a contribution. You may also include a short (1-5 sentences) bio with your submission
if you wish.
 
Deadline for Submissions: December 1, 2008. All submitters will be notified that their
piece has been received. Submissions not published in the print zine will be featured on
the on-line blog with the author’s permission.
 
Please note: we reserve the right to edit submissions after consultation the author
and submissions are not guaranteed publication in print or on-line.
 
Launch Parties: We are planning to hold zine launch parties on December 16--the
anniversary of Aqsa Parvez’s death. Let us know if you want to hold a launch party in
your area. We can help you organize and connect with other young Muslim women
near you.
 
Contact Information: Send us your submissions, ask us questions, request more
information or get involved with this project and our work, by contacting us at:
Email: aqsazine@gmail.com • Blog: aqsazine.blogspot.com