Yasamin Khadembashi

‘Don’t Act Suspicious’ explores the effects of time on perceptions, vilification, language, memory and cultural identity, magnifying the erosion of communication, language and person through assimilation. The woman in the portrait stands static, tall and strong, yet what she wears marks her vulnerability. Coming from a first generation Iranian Australian Muslim family I have had to navigate my way around cultural bias, marginalisation and racial profiling, recognising the importance of keeping cultural knowledge of language, poetry, philosophy alive. The calligraphy in the background and on the body is from the famous Persian Poet, Rumi, the Masnavi is a collection of poems referring to the Quran, Sufism and philosophical insights into spirituality. This artwork examines the impact time has in making specific people targets in history, for the past 21 years the fear and suspicious of Muslims has grown exponentially. The catalyst for this began after 9/11, leaving an entire community vulnerable, targets to be abused, ridiculed, hunted, violated, threatened and displaced. Time is a haunting reminder of what millions of families loose when fleeing their homes; language, identity, faith, people, the opportunity to build a life in your homeland and to be around family and community in safety. For children of Middle Eastern and Muslim diaspora growing up in western countries, there is a constant feeling for being watched, followed and targeted for who we are, what we sound like and for what we believe in.