No Disrespect

On the first weekend of May an art exhibition was held in Newtown, a trendy inner city suburb of Sydney famously irreverent to the mainstream. With a third of its population born overseas, the suburb has welcomed difference for as long as its residents recall. A short stroll down its main streets quickly confirms that the hustle and jive flowing from an eclectic mix of international cuisine, music, fashion and people is anything but a coincidence.

Against this backdrop the Cross Border Collective, Muslim Youth of Sydney, and Justice and Arts Network co-hosted ‘No Disrespect’, an art exhibition that was far from ordinary. Beneath the splashes of colour, delicate inks and stretches of canvas came a very loud message: How about letting us represent ourselves?

And who exactly is “us”? Simple. It is women anywhere. But in particular Muslim-Australian women who are constantly spoken for: without authority, without consultation and most dangerously— without truth.

‘No Disrespect’ presented an important opportunity for dialogue between these women (many of whom were contributing artists), the general public, academics, activists and the media. And the result was absolutely phenomenal! Featuring a collection of beautiful art, stellar female performances by Miriam Waks and Soul Beatz, aka Rima, and plenty of intelligent dialogue to engage and inspire, it was hard to ignore the energy and elation buzzing through the crowd.

Visitors admired the creativity that was unleashed, and the realisation that female empowerment can take many different forms. The local community appreciated the presence of the exhibition for its upbeat focus, drawing attention away from the divisiveness preached by the controversial “say no to burqas” mural located just a few blocks away.

The increasingly popular narrative directed at Muslim women is a perplexing mix of “You don’t belong here!” or “We have to save you!” At times like this it’s more important than ever to set the record straight.

Along with the wonderful displays of creative dissent, a panel of speakers gave their views:

• Edward Santow, anti-discrimination law expert from the Public Interest and Advocacy Centre

• Dr Christina Ho, senior lecturer from the University of Technology Sydney

• Claire Parfitt, local activist from the Cross Border Collective, and

• Hanan Dover, Muslim psychologist and community leader from Mission of Hope.

Mr Santow outlined the legal position in Australia and highlighted the deficiencies of New South Wales Anti-Discrimination Act (1977) where ethno-religious discrimination is prohibited but religious discrimination per se is not. Religious discrimination must be closely linked with ethnic origin; the Jewish community has been successful in proving this, but Muslims have not. The situation is the same in Federal legislation where the question has yet to be addressed by the courts.

Christina Ho described the movements to ban the burqa and niqab, in Australia and abroad, as concealing the real agendas: “these bans affect very few people directly, but they affect most Muslims indirectly … they put Muslims on notice that they’re not wanted in a community”.

Calls to ban the burqa are often ‘dressed up’ as being essential to female empowerment. Responses on the event Facebook page overwhelmingly rejected this argument. Sergio Redegalli, who painted the mural which sparked so much controversy, depicts face veils as a symbol of repression and violent extremism, a security threat to Australia. By portraying women who choose to wear the face veil as a danger to society, the mural dehumanises them – the opposite of empowering.

Artist Sana Gillani, recalled being ‘inspired’ by comments made by WA Minister for Women’s Interests, Robyn McSweeney, who referred to the burqa as ‘alien to the “Australian way of life”. In response Sana constructed ‘Australiens’ with its message: ‘the only things alien in my mind are … racism, sexism and fascism creeping its way back into Australian society”.

We can all hope that this is merely the beginning of a call for dialogue rather than disrespect. Often we are held back not only by misperceptions or prejudices, but also by our own silence. The greatest challenge will be to go beyond merely dancing to the tunes of others, to create our own space to tell our own truths.