SABIHA ÇIMEN - HAFIZ

In Turkey, many teenage Muslims are sent by their families to religious schools where they are taught to memorize the Qur'an. In these single-sex, largely residential schools which range in size from 50 students to 600, young people spend an intensive period of three or four years on their religious education. It was on her return to such a school, with her Hasselblad camera in hand, that Sabiha Çimen discovered her artistic voice. Titled Hafiz: Guardians of the Qur'an, Sabiha Çimen's ongoing project—and her most significant to date—captures students in attendance at several girls-only Qur'an schools throughout Turkey, weaving its emotional narrative through collected vignettes of the daydreams, trivialities , quiet rebellions and melodramas of youth.
Publisher's Statement
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In Turkey, many Muslim teenagers are sent by their families to religious schools where they learn to memorize the Quran. In these single-sex boarding schools, which range in size from 50 to 600 students, the youngsters spend an intensive three or four years studying religious studies.
It was upon returning to such a school, a Hasselblad camera in hand, that Sabiha Çimen discovered her artistic voice.
Titled Hafiz: Guardians of the Quran, Çimen’s project—and her largest to date—captures the students who attend several all-girls Quranic schools across Turkey, weaving her emotional narrative through vignettes collected from the daydreams, banalities, quiet rebellions, and melodramas of youth; color photographs.
Editor's text