The Putnam Museum and Science Center is looking for people to submit their experiences with Islam for a temporary exhibit scheduled for spring of 2026, titled “Islam in the Quad Cities.” Ferdaus Ahmad, the guest curator for the exhibit, is helping the museum collect stories from people in the area to bring life and individual experiences to the cultural exhibit.
Ahmad is a retired professor who works with QCAIR (Quad City Alliance for Immigrants and Refugees), the QC Chapter of the World Affairs Councils of America, the ICQC (Islamic Center of the Quad Cities), the IQNA Food Pantry, St. Mary’s Monastery and YES Program and mentoring girls in science programs. She is a member of Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, an organization dedicated to empowerment, gender equality and advocating the constitutional rights of women in Bangladesh. She is an advisor for SpaandanB, a U.S.-based nonprofit that addresses education, health, and economic hardship in poor areas of Bangladesh. Ahmad is originally from Bangladesh and has been an active Quad Cities resident for 31 years.
The exhibit will be in the World Culture Gallery, which is currently hosting the Indigenous Roots of Mexican Americans exhibit.
Contact Christina Kastell, the Putnam’s Curator of History and Anthropology, at CKastell@putnam.org or Ferdaus Ahmad at fahmad29@hotmail.com to learn more and share experiences practicing Islam in the Quad Cities.
The museum is open 7 days a week at 1717 W. 12th Street in Davenport.