Hænder holdt sammen. Kroppe, der danner cirkler, så rækker. Stående side om side. Stof falder blødt over skuldre og arme. En måde at relatere til hinanden på. En stille artikulation af søsterskab.
I We Will Meet Again in Paradise, hendes første udstilling hos NILS STÆRK, præsenterer Ikram Abdulkadir en serie værker formet af intimitet, omsorg og fælles erfaring. Med udgangspunkt i en dokumentarisk fotografisk tradition fotograferer hun de kvinder, der står hende nærmest – søstre, venner og medlemmer af hendes fællesskab – og nærmer sig kameraet både som deltager og iagttager. Billederne opstår i hverdagsmiljøer, både urbane og hjemlige, men bærer en intens fornemmelse af nærvær og opmærksomhed.
På tværs af værkerne optræder enkeltpersoner og grupper af unge kvinder i blafrende jilbaabs og danner stille konstellationer af kroppe og blikke. Nogle gange møder de kameraet direkte; andre gange vender de sig mod hinanden eller væk, opslugt af deres egen udveksling eller fremstår alene. I spændingsfeltet mellem portræt og kollektiv scener følger fotografierne nærhedens gestusser, der fremkalder former for søsterskab, både levede og forestillede.
At leve som sort muslimsk kvinde i Skandinavien indebærer ofte at blive set og fortolket gennem et blik præget af kontrol og forudfattede idéer. Under sådanne vilkår for synlighed kan relationer mellem kvinder blive afgørende rum for støtte og anerkendelse. Forfatteren og aktivisten Audre Lorde skrev om den styrke, der findes i båndene mellem sorte kvinder – relationer formet gennem fælles erfaring, støtte og kollektiv omsorg. I Abdulkadirs værk fremstår disse relationer ikke som abstrakte idéer, men som levede gestusser.
Lorde beskrev også selvdefinition som en nødvendig modstandshandling og mindede os om, at hvis sorte kvinder ikke definerer sig selv, vil de uundgåeligt blive defineret af andre. Abdulkadirs fotografier legemliggør denne insisteren. Med udgangspunkt i de relationer, de skildrer, forskyder billederne de vilkår, hvorigennem disse kvinder bliver set. Ved at arbejde ud fra egen erfaring forvandler Abdulkadir hverdagens øjeblikke til billeder, der åbner et fælles rum for genkendelse.
Titlen We Will Meet Again in Paradise rummer både en åndelig og følelsesmæssig resonans. I islamisk tro forestilles paradis som et sted for genforening. I Abdulkadirs fotografier fremstår denne idé mindre som et fjernt løfte og mere som noget, der øjeblikkeligt realiseres i selve det at samles – gennem nærhed, omsorg og den stille genkendelse, der opstår mellem dem, der står side om side.
Parallelt med denne udstilling vil Ikram Abdulkadir præsentere soloudstillingen Soft Focus på Moderna Museet Malmö, som åbner den 2. maj 2026.
[ENG, original tekst]
Hands held together. Bodies forming circles, then rows. Standing side by side. Fabric drapes softly over shoulders and arms. A way of relating to one another. A quiet articulation of sisterhood.
Hands held together. Bodies forming circles, then rows. Standing side by side. Fabric drapes softly over shoulders and arms. A way of relating to one another. A quiet articulation of sisterhood.
In We Will Meet Again in Paradise, her first exhibition with NILS STÆRK, Ikram Abdulkadir presents a series of works shaped by intimacy, care, and shared experience. Working within a documentary photographic tradition, she photographs the women closest to her – sisters, friends, and members of her community – approaching the camera as both participant and observer. The images arise from everyday environments, both urban and domestic, yet carry a heightened sense of presence and attention.
Across the works, individuals and groups of young women appear in flowing jilbaabs, forming quiet constellations of bodies and gazes. At times they meet the camera directly; at others they turn toward one another or away, absorbed in their own exchange, or appearing alone. Moving between portrait and collective scene, the photographs trace gestures of closeness that evoke forms of sisterhood both lived and imagined.
Living as a Black Muslim woman in Scandinavia often means being seen and interpreted through a gaze shaped by scrutiny and preconceived ideas. Within such conditions of visibility, relationships between women can become vital spaces of support and recognition. Writer and activist Audre Lorde wrote of the strength found in bonds between Black women – relationships formed through shared experience, support, and collective care. In Abdulkadir’s work, these relations appear not as abstract ideas but as lived gestures.
Lorde also described self-definition as a necessary act of resistance, reminding us that if Black women do not define themselves, they will inevitably be defined by others. Abdulkadir’s photographs embody this insistence. Emerging from the relationships they depict, the images shift the terms through which these women are seen. Working from her own experience, Abdulkadir transforms the everyday moments of her life into images that open a shared space of recognition.
The title We Will Meet Again in Paradise carries both spiritual and emotional resonance. In Islamic belief, paradise is imagined as a place of reunion. Within Abdulkadir’s photographs, this idea appears less as a distant promise than as something momentarily realized in the act of gathering itself – through closeness, care, and the quiet recognition that emerges between those who stand side by side.
In parallel with this exhibition, Ikram Abdulkadir will present a solo exhibition, Soft Focus, at Moderna Museet Malmö, opening May 2, 2026.
Kilde:
NILS STÆRK
NILS STÆRK