World

Quebec mosque victims honored in portrait series

Five years after the shooting at Quebec City’s Islamic Cultural Center, an artist is honoring the memories of his victims through a series of portraits, presenting them in a loving light.

Large format paintings of the six men killed in the hate-filled attack are drawn from snapshots of their lives. Each image shows a glimpse of what was lost on that January day, when a sacred place of prayer was filled with terror.

“I wanted a way of portraying the humanity of men in a way that was a bit creative, but mostly respectful,” artist Aquil Virani told CTV News.

The day after the mass shooting, Virani attended a ceremony in Montreal where he picked up a paintbrush as a way to process his emotions. He started painting and also asked others to complete his artwork with a message of support for the mosque and the victims.

“Ultimately, what I tried to do the way I remember it was to give people a chance to express themselves so you don’t feel helpless,” he said.

That started a series of events and eventually led to the widow of Khaled Belkacemi – one of the six victims of the shooting – asking Virani for a portrait of her late husband.

Belkacemi is a scientist and a university professor and can be seen wearing a suit in his portrait, which is based on a photograph taken at a conference three months before the attack – the one that people his widow loved in his heart.

“What struck me was how simple the photo was,” says Virani. “…That’s where the portrait comes in, for me. It shows the humanity, that Khalid Belkacemi is in some ways just an ordinary guy.”

In the end, the families of other victims reached out to bless their loved ones.

“When they contacted each other, that was when we really knew that there was interest in them, that we could keep family at the center of our work,” he said. (We would ask them what they wanted, ask them for their favorite photos to use, assure them that if at any time they were uncomfortable, for whatever reason, that I’ll pull that portrait.”

The men in the paintings, created with acrylic and spray paint, are all seen against a similar-looking yellow and green background – yellow stands for hope and green is important. important in Islam.

“I didn’t want too much creative freedom when doing the artwork, because I wanted to put at the heart of the work the faces of the men who were killed,” explains Virani.

Six portraits are on display at the Islamic Cultural Center this week before being delivered to the families of the victims. They were on display during a news conference at the mosque on Thursday, as community leaders spoke in favor of increased gun control, against Islamophobia and against Proposition 21, the law. Quebec’s ban on religious symbols for certain civil servants.

“These very beautiful images give a humanity that goes beyond the pictures we see every year reproduced in the pictures in the file,” said festival organizer Nora Loreto at a press conference. .

Virani said he believes his art can help bring about social change in small steps.

“I don’t think we can change the world in a day, but I do think everything makes sense and humanitarianizing these men, humanitarian Muslims in general, is a long way off. long to ensure that Muslims are treated well and fairly in Canada and around the world,” he said.

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