Nushrat Rahman on “Preserving Identity” @ Mulberries & Ink

But at the crux of it, the process of co-curating the art show cultivated an opportunity for growth. That is to say that–on a more personal note–Preserving Identity taught me about what it means to push oneself beyond one’s comfort zone, to take risks, and to be consistently intentional.

My co-curator and utterly fantastic human being, Nushrat Rahman, has written a reflection, “Meeting at an Intersection,” on the show we worked on this year, “Preserving Identity: A Muslim Youth Experience.” You can read it on her blog, Mulberries & Ink. Look out, world, we’ve got a writer on our hands! It is almost unfair that such a lovely and dedicated young woman can also be so smart and so sensitive. Nushrat is like a prism for her community – every time I am privileged to be around her, her friends, and her family, I can see the light of love reflecting between them. It truly touches everyone in the room.

In an earlier iteration of the show, we discussed setting a light in the center of the shelving unit, to refract through the jars, but on the night of the opening, I could see that would have been redundant. Nushrat is the light. As are we all.