![Paradise Has Many Gates / Ajlan Gharem - Exterior Photography](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/617b/ceff/1239/1301/6549/a6a0/newsletter/daytime-press1.jpg?1635504001)
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Artists: Ajlan Gharem
- Area: 30 m²
- Year: 2015
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Photographs:Ajlan Gharem
![Paradise Has Many Gates / Ajlan Gharem - Interior Photography](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/617b/ceff/5850/5410/94c4/111c/newsletter/cf000760.jpg?1635504027)
Text description provided by the architects. Paradise Has Many Gates is Ajlan Gharem’s first installation work - a 10 x 6.5-meter mosque constructed from industrial steel. While true to the design and function of a traditional Islamic place of worship, Ajlan’s mosque is built from the same cage-like material that Western countries use to erect fences along their borders, preventing refugees and illegal immigrants from entering.
![Paradise Has Many Gates / Ajlan Gharem - Exterior Photography](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/617b/cefc/5850/5401/651f/a583/newsletter/press3.jpg?1635503954)
Along with the installation, the work includes a video of the artist and other construction workers building the mosque in the desert outside Riyadh, staging a prayer performance, and then de-installing it.
![Paradise Has Many Gates / Ajlan Gharem - Exterior Photography, Waterfront](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/617b/cefe/1239/1301/6549/a69e/newsletter/dji-0045.jpg?1635503898)
![Paradise Has Many Gates / Ajlan Gharem - Image 11 of 16](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/617b/dfe8/1239/130b/f29b/7d7f/medium_jpg/scan.jpg?1635508225)
![Paradise Has Many Gates / Ajlan Gharem - Interior Photography](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/617b/cefe/5850/5401/651f/a584/newsletter/vanier-park-vancouver-copy.jpg?1635503935)
Evoking feelings of imprisonment and anxiousness by way of its caged structure, while also representing Muslims' center of prayer, this mosque invites all visitors, Muslim and non- Muslim alike, to question how we designate and behave within sacred spaces, and how their meaning will differ between generations and cultures.