Picture this: a figure walking down King St, Newtown, clothed in a black burqa-type robe, with the tell-tale points of an open umbrella protruding under the fabric, as passers-by look on.
That’s the central image of a video included in a recent art exhibition, “No Disrespect”, held in opposition to the “No to Burqas” mural on Station St, Newtown. The artist, Cigdem Aydemir, hoped to highlight the absurdity of some people labeling the burqa as a ‘security threat’, a means to disguise hidden weapons. Hence the umbrella.
Co-organised by the Justice and Arts Network, the Cross-Border Collective, and Muslim Youth of Sydney, the exhibition took over the main hall of the Newtown Neighborhood Centre on May 6-7, featuring the work of seventeen artists responding to the theme of women’s emancipation.
Najiyah Khan, Chair of Muslim Youth of Sydney, told the City Hub: “We want to rally against creeping attitudes of racism and sexism, and to say that you can’t force these attitudes on people, as it won’t be accepted by the community”.
“We would like people to rethink preconceived notions of what it means to be a woman in Australia. There are so many ways women choose to represent ourselves. We have freedoms here, and we should all be able to protect them. We shouldn’t sit back while others speak for us,” Najiyah continued.
Aside from the artworks, the exhibition included a Public Forum on Women and Islamophobia, featuring Dr. Christina Ho from the University of Technology, Sydney. The show was rounded out with a performance from the comedy duo, Fear of a Brown Planet.
Participating artist, Sana Gillani, commented that, “This is a very inspiring way for us to have a space which allows for deeper, more constructive discussion about the impacts of racism and Islamaphobia, all too present in Australia.”
