Architecture of the Adelaide mosque: hybridity, resilience and assimilation

Abstract

This report describes a little-known and inadequately documented facet of the Islamic diaspora in Australia: its architectural legacy. Mosques were first built in Australia by Muslim camel drivers brought there in the nineteenth century to assist in exploring and developing its vast outback. The little work that has been done on this population so far has mostly focused on socio-cultural and anthropological issues. However, by exploring the origins and early use of the Adelaide mosque, we argue that a more comprehensive study is needed of the other small mosques that were once scattered around the outback. With their diverse, hybrid forms, these structures provide the only tangible evidence of the material culture of this early immigrant group. They call attention both to its resilience and drive to assimilate and to the need for a new theoretical framework for understanding Islamic architecture.