Artist Statement: Concerned Citizen

Religion has always been a rich source of culture. With it, there are some societies that are deeply rooted in tradition. Often times, different religions and different cultures clash when brought together. We see throughout history that different religions, especially between Christianity and Islam, conflicted one with another, often resulting in war and bloodshed. In the 21st century, these bigoted and unrighteous acts of zealotry have but faded. Now we are left with a giant mixing pot of different cultures, traditions, peoples, and communities.

            For our project, we wanted to focus on the religious aspect of our community. We live in Utah Valley, a predominantly LDS community. Within this community, we discovered another culture that so perfectly interacts with its surroundings that no conflict arises. The Muslim community in Salt Lake City is one that’s beautiful in its traditions, and acclimatable to its predominantly Christian surroundings. We called around and contacted Mr. Aden Batar, the President of the Islamic Society of Great Salt Lake.

           Our main focus of our piece was to see what he does to strengthen the Islamic culture in Utah and the community around him. Much to our surprise, we arrived at his work at the Catholic Community Services only to discover, to quote Mr. Batar himself, that he “wears many hats in the community.” Not only does he actively strengthen his Muslim community, but also works to help resettle refugees from different parts of the world. He constantly is striving to help the less fortunate around the world. Recently, he organized a service project with the LDS Church, and is planning another project with the Church to help those in need after the devastating typhoon in the Philippines. Initially, we had no idea that he is such an influential and inspirational figure in his community. He is a social servant, organizer and uplifter of the community. He is, in essence, a concerned citizen.

            We had to make a few decisions as to how we would produce this documentary. We felt that a visual documentary would further strengthen our piece so it could show how Aden Batar is a community builder. So we included footage of Aden giving a sermon to his Muslim Congregation and other footage of the Muslim people worshipping in this Utah community. We decided to juxtapose shots of the LDS Temple, Muslim Mosque, and Catholic Cathedral to show that there are more religions than we think living in harmony in Utah. We used the song “Untitled #3” by Sigur Ros, because we both felt that it added a sense of beauty and atmosphere to the piece. We guided the interview questions so Aden could focus on his specific involvement.

            In class we watched a video of people in Palistine dressed up as characters from Avatar to rebel against the army who was invading their land. This helped to illustrate that a similar plot that took place in the film Avatar was happening to them. In our piece we wanted to show that the Muslim people are good citizens, despite what media often depicts. The greatest thing Aden said was that he was a Utahn. “Utah is our home, we are Utahn before Somalian.” He and his community have embraced their society here in Utah and have learned to love the people here and work with them. Hurt Locker is an outside media piece that we wanted to relate our doc. In this film Americans are trying to survive in a Muslim community, mostly terrorist Muslim community. In this film we see the extreme side of Islam. The Concerned citizen reading for class mentions how there is a subtextual hidden fear of Muslims as terrorists because of 9/11 and so there are concerns for security. And one’s costume is associated with their bad image. We wanted to show the opposite. We wanted to show a Muslim living in a very American community as a concerned citizen, not an extremist. Aden exercises his agency and lives his life in service and peace despite the attacks the media and country has made on his culture. his congregation also blends in, but they also retain their religion. In the mosque, we witnessed many dressed in casual clothes and few in religious dress. This, again, surprised us, as we accept all too often what the media chooses to tell us. Aden, as well as his congregation, go above and beyond and choose to adapt to live in their American community, despite what the media and the country thinks.