Masjid Dimaukom
A Mosque Painted Entirely Pink, Built By Muslim And Christian Workers Together, In A Town Whose Name The Country Associates With A Massacre · Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur
IT IS A MOSQUE AND IT IS PINK - all of it, walls and domes and minarets, in a shade nobody expects. THE MAYOR WHO BUILT IT CHOSE THE COLOUR AS A SYMBOL OF PEACE, AND IT WAS CONSTRUCTED BY MUSLIM AND CHRISTIAN WORKERS TOGETHER, in a province where that combination is a statement rather than a detail. It opened in 2014 and photographs of it travelled far further than anyone who has actually stood in front of it. THE CONTEXT CANNOT BE LEFT OUT. MAGUINDANAO IS A NAME MOST FILIPINOS ASSOCIATE WITH THE 2009 MASSACRE, in which fifty-eight people including thirty-two media workers were killed in one morning - the deadliest single attack on journalists recorded anywhere. THE PROVINCE HAS CARRIED THAT EVER SINCE. A pink mosque built by two communities together is a small thing against it, and it is also exactly the kind of thing that gets built anyway. Check current travel advice, ask at the gate, and dress as any worshipper would.
Masjid Dimaukom, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur, Philippines
CHECK YOUR GOVERNMENT'S CURRENT TRAVEL ADVICE BEFORE PLANNING - several states maintain advisories for parts of central Mindanao and the position changes. THE MOSQUE IS IN DATU SAUDI AMPATUAN, reached by road from COTABATO CITY, roughly an hour and a half, or from GENERAL SANTOS. IT IS AN ACTIVE MOSQUE AND ENTRY IS FREE; ASK AT THE GATE rather than walking in, and VISITORS ARE GENERALLY WELCOME OUTSIDE PRAYER TIMES. MODEST DRESS IS REQUIRED - shoulders, arms and legs covered; women cover their hair; SHOES ARE REMOVED. FRIDAY MIDDAY PRAYERS FILL IT. RAMADAN CHANGES THE HOURS. THE EXTERIOR IS WHAT PEOPLE COME TO PHOTOGRAPH and is generally fine to shoot; ASK BEFORE PHOTOGRAPHING INSIDE OR PHOTOGRAPHING PEOPLE. There is little shade and central Mindanao is hot.