All images © Marrim Akashi Sani, from Muharram, 2023
The Iraqi-Iranian American artist tells BJP about the story behind her recent project ahead of the 7th edition of the annual Jameel Prize
As Marrim Akashi Sani exhibits her work for the first time – as a finalist for the Jameel Prize 2024 – she tells me she’s dealing with “imposter syndrome”. Sani didn’t come to photography as her first creative outlet, but to – specifically, Shia Islamic jewellery. But she was encouraged to explore photography by her mentor and friend, Farah Al-Qasimi, and subsequently began shooting in her hometown, Michigan.
Sani grew up between West Warren and Dearborn, areas which are known for their large Iraqi Arab populations. But now West Warren is changing, as Iraqi families start to converge on Dearborn, and the photographer is eager to document West Warren before it evolves beyond recognition. “I wanted to capture this moment in time before it changes completely, because it was the same for so long,” she tells me. “And when you grow up [there], you don’t really think of it as anything special because you don’t know any different.”
“We live in a really special place… I’m trying to provide evidence of a time that existed”
As Sani started to travel more, she gained fresh perspective on her hometown and came to see that her community did “live in a really special place,” she continues, “because everybody’s just sitting on the porch smoking hookah and there’s Arabic signs everywhere. Even huge chain [stores] have Arabic signs and everything is halal.”
The Iraqi-Iranian American photographer chose to focus on the month of Muharram, beginning her ongoing series in 2023. Muharram is one of the four sacred months of the Islamic year, and the first month of the Islamic calendar. The day of Ashura also takes place during Muharram, a mournful day for Shia Muslims on which they commemorate the death of the Imam Ali, the grandson of the prophet Mohammed.
Muharram explores the still life of the domestic space during this time, and captures Sani’s family. The series was shortlisted for the 7th edition of the Jameel Prize, the V&A’s international award for contemporary art and design inspired by Islamic tradition, and is on show until 16th March 2025 at the gallery, alongside other shortlisted artists Sadik Kwaish Alfraji, Jawa El Khash, Alia Farid and more. This year’s winner was Khandakar Ohida.
Sani’s images feature high exposure and clear and direct flash, reflecting a style that is at once unforgivingly documentary and poetically meditative. Sani calls her process “guerilla shooting”, and says she waits for the moment to come to her, then photographs intuitively and organically. One photograph is a close-up of her grandmother, for example, with a single tear rolling down her face. “I only bought the camera to videotape us making Qeymeh, a food very specific to Muharram,” says the artist. “And then my grandma just started talking and I thought, let me just take pictures of her while talking. And then as I took that picture, she started tearing up.”
In another scene, two plastic dolls are laid out beside one another, surrounded by sweets, jewellery and keyrings featuring images of the Imam Ali. The spread, an offering made to Ruqayya bint Husayn – one of Imam Ali’s daughters – may look “on the outside… comical to some people, but it really is a simple gesture,” Sani tells me. “I’m trying to provide evidence of a time that existed.”
As well as freezing these moments, she documents the objects which make up who she is, and how she sees herself. We see a red velour jewellery box filled with gold, some silver and some diamond pieces, a charm of the Imam, and a circle charm with palm trees and mosques in the background, as well as a green box with gold Arabic writing – a common scene in Arab households. “A lot of the pieces in the jewellery box are pieces that I made,” says Sani. “It’s just my daily life. If you look at the jewellery box, you see my pyjamas in the mirror.”
Sani is still interested in other media in fact and, while she’s continuing to work on Muharram, is also exploring other means of expression. “Lately I’ve been sewing hijabs with my aunt,” she says. “But I love writing, I love film. Maybe this will be a good opportunity for me to try to find some resources.” She’s also drawn to found objects, whether they’re toys, pamphlets, or whatever else she comes across. “I don’t know how I want to present them yet, but it’s something that I do every day – I find something every day, just by walking around the city, even when I’m not shooting.”
Jameel Prize: Moving Images is on at the Victoria and Albert Musuem, South Kensington, until 16 March 2025
