Zaineb Abelque: Radical depictions of community

There are very few instances when you can feel belonging emanating from an image; Zaineb Abelque is one of the few photographers able to coax you into consolation with her art. A British-Moroccan artist born in London, Zaineb is a self-taught photographer whose work powerfully renders experiences of Muslim women navigating life in the diaspora and within their communities. At 23, she’s found her place in the London arts scene, exploring community, identity, and faith with her camera. 

It was clear to Zaineb that the world of ideation was for her when she shadowed a creative duo at an advertising agency at just 16. “I had always moved through the world with an overwhelming amount of curiosity and ambition.” This early experience opened her eyes to the creative realm, allowing her to abandon the conventional expectations of academia for uncharted territories. 

Her first solo exhibition, Inside, Outside, opened last year in London. The event was a decisive moment in her journey as it allowed her to synthesise her multifaceted experience into a cohesive narrative. “It’s the first time I had brought all my worlds into one space and understood what feeling I’ve been wanting to create,” she shares. This exhibition was a bearing of the soul, a heartfelt meditation on her innermost self during the sacred month of Ramadan.

Through her work, Zaineb seeks to facilitate conversations around familiarity, nostalgia, and intimacy. “I want to challenge perspectives and introduce a level of aesthetic merit yet empathy to anyone who exists in duality,” she explains. “A drive towards human delicacy and connection.” Her works reveal a soul that understands the struggle of straddling identities, existing in diasporic contexts, and navigating the challenges these dissonances present. Her photography is rooted in her life experiences, especially as a Muslim woman, and she wants to reverberate a sense of understanding for those with similar beliefs or backgrounds. 

Zaineb’s connection to faith serves as a foundation for her artistic vision. Central to Inside, Outside, for example, is an exploration of the spiritual introspection and community bonds that characterise Ramadan. Through a series of intimate photographs, short films, and zines, Abelque captures moments of solitude and togetherness, inviting viewers into the warmth of shared experiences. She draws attention to the tenderness found in everyday rituals—her mother’s hands folded in prayer, her father’s embrace of folded prayer mats, or the jubilant gatherings during Eid in local parts. These images bring into gentle focus the feeling of kinship and the comfort of being folded into something larger.

Her work is so pertinent because it sheds light on an aspect of Islam that is often obscured. Zaineb envisions a cultural landscape in the Middle East and North Africa that prods at the preconceived notions so inextricably tied to ideas of Islam. “I hope to see the cultural scene across these spaces have no expectations creatively,” she remarks. “I think the West has shaped our idea of any culture that ties itself to Islam, which comes with expectations and tropes that fall onto artists.” Zaineb aspires to foster an environment where creativity can flourish without the weight of external expectations. “We are definitely at the beginning of a new wave, and I hope this thing that we are a part of holds truth and optimism.”

There is something to be said about the simple act of coming together, especially given the fraught nature of our world in politics today. It’s a radical step to take comfort in sharing values with people—and Zaineb exhibits it with the rare care and caution such spaces hold. Now more than ever, art like Zaineb’s—that reflects the intimacy and belonging in a clarity that feels urgent—has never been more vital.