KHADIM ALI ELYAS ALAVI AVAN ANWAR ZAINAB HAIDARIY MONIRAH HASHEMI NAZANIN MARASHIAN GERRIE MIFSUD AFGHAN WOMEN ON THE MOVE 5 JULY – 9 SEPTEMBER 2018
EXHIBITION AND PERFORMANCE PROGRAM Daneha, or Seeds in English, explores the identities and stories of the Afghan community in Blacktown, underpinned by cultural and linguistic links to ancient Persia. It connects with local, national and global issues of displacement, loss, survival, resilience and the challenges of resettlement that impact the broader Persian diaspora. The seed symbolises different contexts of migration, a scattered reshaping of community across the globe, with tAhe growing of roots in foreign, unfamiliar soil. It explores how the community regathers and grows new opportunities. Daneha opens up reflection about the experiences of migrants and refugees, exploring the challenges and opportunities as they regather in new lands. It is about the formation of new cultural identities, led by artists and community groups from the Persian cultural region, including Afghanistan, Kurdistan and Iran – all of whom share Farsi as a common language.
EXHIBITION NOTES KHADIM ALI, with SHER ALI
KHADIM ALI
Untitled 3 from the Transitions / Evacuation series Watercolour, gouache, ink and gold leaf on wasli paper, 6 parts, 68.5 x 53 cm each, 2014
Golden Country Steel-cut brass, cotton fabric, 220 x 220 cm, 2018
“The Shahnameh (Book of Kings) was read to me by my grandfather, and its illustrations were my first lessons in art history.” Khadim Ali In Ali’s series of miniatures, in the style of Indian Mogul painting, he explores and updates the motifs of the classic Persian poem, The Shahnameh. Ironically, its hero Rostam was appropriated by the Taliban. Ali depicts him as a horned demon, with a long beard reminiscent of those worn by Taliban fighters. Ali’s paintings are rich in traditional and modern motifs of Eastern and Western arthistorical references; telling stories about the loss of his own cultural heritage and of human values; and how meaning shifts as words and images are perverted through ideological appropriation.
“This work represents Australia as Afghan refugees’ precious golden country.” Khadim Ali Golden Country expresses how refugees adapt to their new countries. It is inspired by the 17th and 18th Century Afghan and Persian tradition of depicting nature, which came into practice after the fatwa banning images of bodies that contain souls. Ali uses native Australian animals in the form of words-of-praise to depict the transition of refugees’ perceptions, showing how they adapt their traditional understanding to give rise to new meanings in multicultural Australia. This is also depicted in his redesign of Arabic and Persian texts of praise, transforming them into Australia’s national flower, the golden wattle.
Khadim Ali is represented by Milani Gallery, Brisbane
ZAINAB HAIDARIY
AVAN ANWAR
Speculator Sound, megaphone, steel, acrylic on cotton, dimensions variable, 2018
Bing me again Nylon tulle fabric, sting, bulb light, dimensions variable, 2018
“Can we read conflict from other perspectives by looking back to political and economic decisions made in another era?” Zainab Haidariy
“The achievement of exile is permanently undermined by the loss of something left behind.” Avan Anwar
Speculator focuses on the economic management of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) from 1970 - 1976. Haidariy’s work ‘speculates’ about ASEAN’s policies and decisions made 42 years ago that still impact the region’s monetary policy, growth, budget and labour force. ASEAN includes Indonesia, Malaysia, The Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Her creative investigation also questions the bigger picture of how the decisions made by ‘speculators’ – policy-makers – affect our everyday lives. The work is based on research by Brian Wawn, a member of the Australian delegation to the annual meeting of the UN economic and social commission for Asia.
Anwar uses art to reinvent what is lost and ‘left behind’, to re-live the past, and as a remedy against forgetting. The work draws on her personal experience of identity crisis, physical disability and displacement. The central image of the flower symbolises rebirth and new beginnings: the cyclical process of growing, blooming, going to seed and regenerating. Each form of the flower represents an element of her experience of balancing past and present. By transforming the physical, painterly materials she works with, she expresses how cultural changes and displacement lead to building new identities.
AVAN ANWAR
ELYAS ALAVI
Indurability of Life Jonquil flowers, needle pins, dimensions variable, 2018
From The Uprooted Trees series, Ink and pen on paper, 3 parts, 60 x 90 cm each, 2018
“Displacement is being cut off from roots, land, and the past.” Avan Anwar
“When a child is born in my home village a tree is planted to name and honour him or her. It is sacred, no one is allowed to cut it down.” Elyas Alavi
Indurability of Life explores fragility, loss and rebirth; recycling life and tragedy; and struggle - in relation to Kurdish cultural identity and socio-politics. The largescale repetition of small objects creates a poetic space that brings Anwar’s memory of the past into the present. It is an atmospheric installation, to be understood on an intuitive level rather than literally. Anwar expresses her experience of displacement and exile by using everyday objects out of context. They depict a refugee’s loss of context - the loss of home.
Alavi’s series is based on this tradition from his village of birth in the province of Daikundi, the mountainous heart of central Afghanistan. The tree becomes a symbol of belonging; of the strong connection between a person and the roots they bear with their birthplace. The series was inspired by Alavi’s return to his village in 2015, for the first time in 21 years, when he was reunited with relatives, friends and his own tree. In one of the works he depicts his tree with the ghostly image of a young boy. It expresses the tree as a part of himself, which has been and always will be there, and his experience that it was as if he had never left. It draws him back there,
whether in memory or in person. The second work honours his late sister Latifa. He pictures her tree as thin and delicate, appearing to merge with her ghostly figure. In this he imagines another purpose of the sacred tree: as a part of someone that remains and to which their soul returns after their death.
ELYAS ALAVI Naan, Salt, Pomegranate, Nafas Vest, pomegranate, salt, neon light, dimensions variable, 2018 “Through this work, I dream of a time when the pockets of these vests are filled with simple words such as naan (bread), pomegranate or home rather than guns, bullets or grenades .” Elyas Alavi
The vests in Alavi’s work are similar to those worn by suicide bombers in the Middle East, but in this context they take on a new, hopeful meaning. The work is inspired by news of suicide attacks that Alavi hears from his homeland, where many relatives and friends still live. Many suicide bombers are coming from Qandahar city in south Afghanistan which is also famous for pomegranates. Every time the news comes he calls to find out if they are safe; each time hearing the fear and sorrow in their voices. His artistic response to the mistrust such attacks always create – wherever they occur – is drawn from the poems people write on walls of the ruined cities of Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan; poems that speak of hope and belief in change. The projected words (in English, Farsi and Arabic), Naan, Salt, Pomegranate, Nafas (a girl’s name meaning breath), are from Alavi’s own, and others’, poems about peace.
the idea of planting seeds and ‘growing’ a new identity in a new culture and country. The small discs carrying the women’s personal intentions radiate out from the centre, representing the potential of new beginnings and expansion.
NAZANIN MARASHIAN with AFGHAN WOMEN ON THE MOVE Star Seed MDF board, wooden discs, gold paint, turmeric, paprika, cardamom, cinnamon, dried herbs, poppy seeds, dimensions variable, 2018 “The small discs in this artwork are symbols of our promises to ourselves: to make new lives in Australia.” Afghan Women on the Move Star Seed uses symbols, seeds and spices to link refugee women’s experiences and how they find empowerment. The eight-pointed star is a symbol often used in Persian carpets, Islamic art and esoteric mysticism. In this work it represents a compass, a potent symbol of finding one’s way back home; the elemental forces of nature: air, water, fire and earth; and the goddess Ishtar /Innana the goddess of love, pleasure, joy, and empowerment of women. The seeds and spices, those most commonly found in Afghan kitchens (turmeric, paprika, cinnamon, cardamom, dried herbs and poppy seeds), express
NAZANIN MARASHIAN with AFGHAN WOMEN ON THE MOVE Planting Seeds MDF board, mixed media, dimensions variable, 2018 “This work reflects our vision for a future life in Australia.” Afghan Women on the Move Each individual piece of Planting Seeds was created by women from the Afghan Women on the Move collective. The subject matter of the work is based on expressing individual hopes and dreams: the ‘seeding intentions’ of each participant’s new life in Australia. They reference individual journeys to Australia and the navigation of their identity as Afghan-Australian women.
and Western Sydney. It creates a radically safe platform for women as survivors of war and trauma to gather and participate in arts and cultural programs, outside of religious and political influences. It breaks isolation, and builds a sense of belonging and resilience by sharing stories and facilitating encounters with women from other cultures.
GERRIE MIFSUD with AFGHAN WOMEN ON THE MOVE Afghan Women on the Move Giclée photograph on cotton rag paper, 8 parts, 119 x 84 cm each, 2018 “These photographs celebrate strong, resilient women.” Gerrie Mifsud Photographer Gerrie Mifsud worked closely with members of Afghan Women on the Move to create photographic portraits that reflect the contemporary and diverse roles of Afghan women in the community. Founded and Directed by Maryam Zahid, Afghan Women on the Move aims to empower the voices of Afghan women in Blacktown
PERFORMANCES AND EVENTS Daneha Program Launch
Sitaraha – The Stars
Thursday 5 July, 6 - 8 pm. Free
Australian premiere, Thursday 6 September, 7.30 pm. Preview. Tickets $20, Concession $15
Daneha Artists in Conversation Saturday 18 August, 4 - 6.30 pm. Free Safda Ahmed, Khadim Ali, Elyas Alavi, Maryam Zahid, moderated by Abdul Hekmat
Panel Discussion: Working Creatively with Refugee Women Saturday 1 September, 4 - 6.30 pm. Free Monirah Hashemi, Lief Persson, Maryam Zahid, moderated by Paula Abood
Daneha Script Readings Monirah Hashemi (international writer), Maryam Zahid (emerging local writer)
Saturday 8 September, 7.30 pm. Tickets $30, Concession $25 Sunday 9 September, 3 pm. Tickets $30, Concession $25 A moving one woman play, weaving stories of three women living in Afghanistan, across different eras. Navigating war and religious oppression, songs, dance and storytelling keep their stories alive. Written and performed by Monirah Hashemi, directed by Lief Persson and produced by Teater Dos.
The Leo Kelly Blacktown Arts Centre Website blacktownarts.com.au Email artscentre@blacktown.nsw.gov.au Phone 02 9839 6558 Open Tuesday – Saturday 10 am – 5 pm
(closed public holidays) General admission free
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The Leo Kelly Blacktown Arts Centre is an initiative of Blacktown City Council and is supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW. This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body. Cover image: Khadim Ali, Golden Country (detail), 2018. Photo: Sharon Hickey Inside back cover image: Sitaraha – The Stars, 2018, written and performed by Monirah Hashemi directed by Leif Persson. Photo: Dahyu Hashemi