Photographer Highlights Plight of Italian Muslims

An Italian award-winning photographer, Nicolo Degiorgis, has demonstrated the contrast of the peace of prayer with the tension of politics in his new book, Hidden Islam, which focuses on how Muslims pray in Italy.

The photographer highlights the problem Italian Muslims face in finding a suitable place for worship, leaving them with no choice but to pray in garages, gyms and shops.
“In Italy the right to worship, without discrimination, is enshrined within the constitution. There are 1.35 million Muslims in Italy and yet, officially, only eight mosques in the whole country,” Martin Parr wrote in introduction to Nicolo Degiorgis’s book.
“One consequence is that the Muslim population has accumulated a huge number of makeshift and temporary places of worship. These are housed in a variety of buildings including lock ups, garages, shops, warehouses and old factories,” he added.
The book, which received an award at the Rencontres d'Arles photography festival, points to Treviso, where local worshippers have been prevented from turning a building they purchased into a mosque by the authorities.
Source: World Bulletin