The Scribe Project – 2022–2024
Installation | Painting on Cut-Out Wood | Screen-Printing on Fabric Dimensions: 15′ × 11′ × 4′ → 28′ × 13′ × 6′ Exhibited at: The Phipps Center for the Arts, St. Kate's Gallery, Rosalux Gallery, and Soo Visual Arts Center.
Project Overview
The Scribe is a large-scale, multimedia installation that explores the legacy of Hafsah bint Umar, a historical figure revered in Islamic tradition as the custodian of the Qur’anic sheets. Through a fusion of figurative portraiture, screen-printed textiles, and Islamic geometric design, the work explores women’s roles in textual transmission, cultural authorship, and sacred memory.
The Scribe – Final Installation. Gallery view with geometric patterns, calligraphy, and central figure.
Minneapolis Institute of Art – 2024
The Scribe – Gallery view with artist next to the figure.
Rosalux Gallery – 2023
The Scribe – Intermediate Version.
Painted wood cutouts and wall‑mounted 17' × 10' screen‑printed fabric panels.
St. Catherine University Gallery – 2022
The Scribe – Initial Version.
Painted wood cutouts and wall‑mounted 15' × 11' screen‑printed and digitally printed paper.
The Phipps Center for The Arts – 2022
The Scribe – Detail view.
Screen‑printed canvas with twelve‑fold Islamic motifs and eight central figure silhouettes.
St. Catherine University Gallery – 2022
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The Scribe – Detail View.
Screen‑printed canvas with Arabic calligraphy.
St. Catherine University Gallery – 2022
The Scribe – Detail View.
Screen‑printed frieze and Arabic calligraphy.
St. Catherine University Gallery – 2022
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The Scribe – 2022
Screen print and digital print on paper, 15 × 11 ft.
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The Scribe – Close‑up of Hafsah’s Portrait.
Detail view of Hafsah’s portrait within the installation.
St. Catherine University Gallery – 2022
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The Scribe – Gallery Interaction.
Visitors engaging with the installation.
Gallery Setting – 2022
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Exhibition History
- 2022: Debut at The Phipps Center for the Arts
- 2022: Expanded presentation at St. Catherine University’s Gallery
- 2023: Expanded presentation at Rosalux Gallery
- 2024: Final iteration at Soo Visual Arts Center (after cancellation by the Minneapolis Institute of Art)
Concept and theme
Hafsah, honored in Islamic tradition as a keeper of Qur’anic sheets, embodies literacy, custodianship, and intellectual labor. By centering her image I reclaim a lineage of women who preserved and transmitted sacred knowledge. The central inscription reads in Arabic “she read; she wrote”—a deliberate counterpoint to the masculine phrasing children commonly learn—while the word “word” anchors the composition. The Scribe is a meditation on gendered memory, cultural authorship, and the visibility of women in historical narratives; it asserts women as active participants in the making and safeguarding of culture.
Hafsah bint Umar undertook the monumental responsibility of preserving Qur’anic sheets until early caliphs could transcribe them, a contribution that establishes her as a crucial figure in the dissemination of Islamic teachings. Literate at a time when most people were not, she argued about interpretation and stewardship of the text, and it is plausible that she scribed or safeguarded portions of the Qur’an. This installation is an homage to that possibility and to the broader, often overlooked work of women who kept and transmitted knowledge across generations. Scholars have long recognized the pivotal role Muhammad’s wives played in shaping Islamic tradition, and contemporary research continues to reveal the depth of their influence.
Hafsah bint Umar undertook the monumental responsibility of preserving Qur’anic sheets until early caliphs could transcribe them, a contribution that establishes her as a crucial figure in the dissemination of Islamic teachings. Literate at a time when most people were not, she argued about interpretation and stewardship of the text, and it is plausible that she scribed or safeguarded portions of the Qur’an. This installation is an homage to that possibility and to the broader, often overlooked work of women who kept and transmitted knowledge across generations. Scholars have long recognized the pivotal role Muhammad’s wives played in shaping Islamic tradition, and contemporary research continues to reveal the depth of their influence.
Institutional Controversy
In 2025, The Scribe was scheduled to appear at the Minneapolis Institute of Art as part of the Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program. One week before opening, the museum canceled the show, citing concerns over the figural representation of revered Islamic figures. The installation was dismantled.
This work was never intended to provoke. It seeks to restore the presence of women whose contributions to Islamic culture have been historically underestimated. The cancellation sparked dialogue about representation, religious interpretation, and institutional responsibility
This work was never intended to provoke. It seeks to restore the presence of women whose contributions to Islamic culture have been historically underestimated. The cancellation sparked dialogue about representation, religious interpretation, and institutional responsibility
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