Middle Eastern identity seen like never before. An exploration of youth and fashion. Candid intimacy and beautiful styling is brought to the fore.
Cheb Moha is a young stylist, designer and photographer living on and off in the Emirati metropolis. Born in Iraq, he moved to Canada at the age of 12. Having left Canada in 2014 to wander between Kuwait, Oman, Dubai and other parts of the gulf, he has been producing work surrounding his acute understanding of Middle Eastern experiences of social class, misrepresentation and refuge.
His style has secured him projects with brands such as Vans and The Hundreds. However, his aim is to create work that will support the region. It was a goal for Cheb to move back to the Middle East as he felt strongly about rediscovering his roots.
Currently in Dubai, he works on his personal photography, styling and art direction projects as well as brand consultation. The diverse creative has had his fingers in various creative expressions from designing ensembles for musicians to styling commercials.
The models for his work are often his friends. They regard the work that they create together as their form of reality-infused expression and believe that it assists in defining an authentic picture of Middle Eastern identity. “That traditional ideology about what Arabs should do, what we should wear, and how we should act — it’s all changing. It’s a good time for creatives who want to express themselves, because it’s still new,” he expresses in an interview with The Fader.
Cheb states that there has been complete misrepresentation of the area for the last 30 years. He has also emphasised that people from the region have not been producing creative work as they have moved out of their countries due to conflict. However, people are returning to their homelands and in the creative sector he shares, there is a lot of love and support for one another’s practices. They push each other to excel as they see themselves solely responsible for the representation of the area and their cultures. His primary focus lies in presenting what he finds beautiful about his country and his people and not to show that which has been made to be controversial or exoticized.
Cheb and his friends are helping grow a more well-rounded understanding and perspective of what it means to be a young person in the Middle East today and are breaking down commonly held stereotypes of what people believe Arab people should dress like and be like. Sparking a revolution with intimate images made from the heart.
Playwright, Amy Jephta, and director and writer, Paul Blinkhorn, have reached the second stage of their project – REFUGE. The project came to life when the two were hashing out their proposal for the British Council Connect ZA‘s partnership initiative in 2017. In this collaborative thinking process, it was realized that a reality that both countries share (South Africa and the UK) is that they act as spaces where refugees seek asylum.
The project sets out to verbalise the lived experiences of refugees within these two countries and is presented as open testimonies that are portrayed and spoken verbatim by actors. The possible problematic connotations of the afore mentioned statement (the fact that actors were involved) led me to question Amy about this.
She sheds some light, “Part of what we discovered while doing the interview processes, is that refugees are often reluctant to share their stories with just anyone. There’s a lot of trust that goes into opening up when the system you’ve been in has disappointed you or betrayed that trust so often. It simply wasn’t feasible for us to expect refugees to tell their stories in person. Using actors as the ‘vehicles’ for these stories, and changing refugees’ real names, gave us both the honesty of having the story presented without mediation (in their own words), and the distance and safety that kept refugees from being vulnerable.”
Going into the parallels of refugees from these two different countries, Amy tells me about the disillusionment many of them are faced with over the countries that they end up in. “There were a lot of testimonies that pointed out how hopeful people were/had been, and how that had changed. A lot of people were left in limbo by bureaucracy, administration, red tape. That’s a universal theme: bureaucratic procedures that are designed to make it difficult and complicated to cross borders as an asylum seeker.” Other situational similarities that they share are the lack of affordability some of them are faced with for returning to their home countries as well as prejudice taking the shape of xenophobia that looms in the countries they seek refuge.
In the second stage of the project, Amy and Paul are weaving the testimonies gathered into a full script and written play that they would like to perform in as many spaces as possible. “The funding from British Council/Connect ZA was to foster a new connection, spark a new project. Now it’s up to myself and Paul to carry forward the momentum for this work. This second phase of the process is self-determined – we have no set deadline.”
Telling me more about how the interviews took place, Amy explains that refugees/interviewees were always met at a place of their choosing and that permission was asked to record them prior to the commencement of the interview. Their main question was always, “What were you seeking Refuge from?”.
My interest was in the refugees’ response and feelings about being interviewed and their sentiments towards the project as a whole. Amy shares that some people have been excited about their efforts and believe that it is valuable for their stories to be heard hoping that it would work as a catalyst for change in their situations. Others, however, were wary of her and Paul, doubting that their work would be able to change their realities. “Mostly we have felt supported and welcomed. It’s been incredibly gratifying to see how open people are to share their stories if your only agenda is to genuinely listen.”
“I think as South Africans, we live in a society where we are protected from hearing and seeing these stories up close. It’s possible to live your whole life not knowing there is an entire community of refugees from the rest of Africa who have risked their lives to leave difficult situations and come here. It’s easy to make value judgements about people and to be xenophobic when you don’t attempt to understand the complexity of these situations. We’ve met people who were doctors, lawyers, activists, preachers, who were working professionals in the countries they fled from, who now live in dire circumstances and on the fringes of the countries they came to. I think the project is valuable because it allowed us to hear the details of this particular group of refugee lives.”
Amy and Paul set forth to give voice to a group of under-represented peoples whose stories are of value by the fact that they are accounts of real life; of real emotion and of real experience told by real people. I hope that projects such as these help bridge the gap of inequality and immeasurable difficulty that their lives are riddled with. For awareness to rise, REFUGE and other organizations supporting refugee centred causes need more support from the citizens situated within the countries they find themselves in.
Being 21st century visual artists is a challenge enough on its own! But add trying to tag “ambassador for your faith” on to that and that’s exactly the mission of Hasan and Husain Essop. In a world filled with media that revolves around villainizing the Islamic faith and labeling its followers “extremists”, the Essop’s are continuously seeking to challenge the representation of their religion, and work predominately through the medium of photography to reconstruct this perception.
Images, such as clothing washed up on beaches, the incinerated remains of a bombed car and suitcase-carrying refugee families fleeing, are propelled around the world by the (predominately western) media of the horrifying casualties of the Syrian civil war. Along with this, issues such as ISIS and the ongoing “war on terror,” became the starting point for the exhibition. Not only for the distressing content but also because of the Essop’s knowledge that the fleeting nature of current media meant that it is here today and gone tomorrow. This exhibition was therefore a way to really analyze what we have been shown by the media of the conflict, the refugee crisis, and the resulting portrayal of both victims and perpetrators.
Black terror, 2016. Pigment inks on cotton rag paper
The brothers are intensely aware of their own position in the world, as young Muslim men. In appearance they fit the stereotypes. A passing comment made by Husain was that when he travels internationally, he travels clean-shaven, a decision informed by previous experiences with police, border officials and prejudicial travelers. This awareness of the space they occupy makes the work deeply personal, and yet universal in the way that it calls both the viewer and the media to check. They are afraid, afraid that the situation will get worse, that society will get more and more divisive and that their children will grow up experiencing more discrimination than they have themselves. Their subject matter is simultaneously both personal and political, giving it a narrative that resonates both on an individual and community level.
The Essop’s use of the language of photography is an attempt to connect their message with as many people as possible. Their photographs are particularly striking in the way that they highlight how images are constructed, and in turn, the effect this has on society. Painstakingly weaving together multiple images to create a single image, this level of control ironically mimics the subtlety with which the media is able to circulate images perpetuating a particular perception about Muslim people and other minority groups. The realization that these are carefully and intentionally fabricated images, forces us to realize for a moment that our own perceptions could potentially have been similarly fabricated. In using photography as their primary medium, not only do they have to deal with the ethics of representation that face all photographers practicing today, but the orthodox view that depictions of the human form are haram [forbidden], further complicates their position. However, they feel that they have managed to find ways of negotiating these complex terrains, predominately through their decision to photograph only themselves.
Beached, 2016. Pigment inks on cotton rag paper
Whilst there is a definite gravitas to the show and the themes it tackles, a number of images contain a wry humour, especially in the way that they re-work well-known western icons of pop culture such as the Hulk, Batman and Spiderman, inserting Islamic cultural items to highlight the caricaturing and stereotyping of Muslims, and the relationship American culture in particular, plays in shaping the world. This they feel is not only important in drawing the viewers in, but also in giving their work a bit of character, allowing a side of their own personalities to shine through.
Speaking with Hasan and Husain, it was clear that this particular exhibition is an important and special moment for both of them. The twin brothers, who were the Standard Bank Young Artist Award winners in 2014, have been exhibiting with Goodman Gallery for ten years. Much has changed for both of them during this period. Beginning with their decision to work collaboratively in 2006, they have continued to push the boundaries of their photographic technique and expand on the themes embedded in their body of work in the years since then. They both now have families of their own, and have had to readjust to changes in their working relationship, particularly with Husain and his family relocating to Saudi Arabia a year ago. Refuge is the brothers’ third solo exhibition with Goodman Gallery, and there is an artistic maturity that is starting to show through their work, especially in their increasing confidence to expand into other mediums such as film and installation, which is presented alongside their photographs. The use of a tent presented as a precarious raft shows a sensitivity to the subtleties of working with found materials, suggesting both the dangers facing the refugees as they escape over the sea, and the minimal shelter that is often provided when they reach the land. Not only does Refuge show an increasing mastery of their mediums but also in the way they stretch, combat, and play with concepts.
Mass Grave, 2017. Lightjet C-print on archival paper
Finally, it must be mentioned that the brothers are both full-time Art educators, and while this gives them the financial freedom and stability to provide for their families, it means that they do have to sacrifice time and energy from their practice. They don’t begrudge their day-jobs however, rather they are appreciative of the relieved pressure to make art that sells. They now have the freedom to hone in on their concepts without facing pressure from an art market that is quick to dictate what work artists should make. Knowing this, there is a feeling that their role as educators may have even begun to influence their role as artists, especially how their art takes on an educational slant in itself, seeking to inform and reshape misconstrued perceptions regarding Muslims. Perhaps what they have identified is the possibility that ignorance is a major factor behind the polarising fear we see increasing in society. If they can inform that ignorance, perhaps the growing fear will also diminish.
Check out Refuge at the Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg until the 19th of August.
It is plausible to assume that South Africa and the United Kingdom are vastly different. However during the conceptualisation process for a proposal to be part of the British Council Connect ZA’s new partnership initiative, master playwright, Amy Jephta and writer and director, Paul Blinkhorn, spotted the similarities between South Africa and the UK. The standout similarity being refugees.
Immigration is a topical issue in both states. The Brexit proposition brought forward the discomfort that the UK had with refugees and being a beacon of hope on continent, South Africa attracts an influx of refugees.
“This idea or thinking around refugees and where refugees go and where they belong and what they are going through, leaving what kind of situations they are leaving is a global conversation and it is both relevant to South Africa and to the UK and it was a topic that we felt we could connect on and say something about,” said Amy.
The project called REFUGE that will take place in Cape Town, South Africa and Manchester, UK seeks to tell the stories of the lived experiences of refugees in these cities. The performance will “use actors to portray those stories, to speak those testimonies, to use those exact works, to give life to those stories,” said Amy.
Currently Amy and Paul are in the first phase of their project, which involves week-long interviews with refugees in Cape Town. After transcribing and working on the text for their scripts, they aim to have an open reading of the testimonies about seeking refuge at the end of May in Cape Town.
The project will later move to North Manchester, where the pair will follow the same procedure. However, they believe that the performance will take on different forms. “There is going to be a South African element…there is going to be a UK element and then I think there is going to be something beyond that, which is a mixture of the two,” said Paul.
Amy and Paul have been in partnership with People Against Suffering, Oppression and Poverty (PASSOP) and Befriending Refugees And Asylum Seekers (BRASS), who have aided them in connecting with refugees.
Furthermore, British Council Connect ZA has afforded Amy and Paul the opportunity to collaborate on a project that has the capacity to connect people with different aspects of the human experience. Moreover, REFUGE is a performance project that causes the audience to listen to the authentic stories of refugees. This project humanises refugees so there can be empathy within communities.
So far both Amy and Paul have been left in awe with the resilience of the human spirit and everything refugees endure on a daily basis. The project will hopefully be made accessible beyond the theatres it will be housed in. There are plans to archive the material online so many more will be able to engage with the experiences of others.
