Imaanshaha

Book and exhibition by Saynab Muse

Studio 541, 541 Mt Eden Rd, Auckland, 19 – 20 October 2019
Book Launch, Saturday 19 October, 4 - 6pm

Published by PhotoForum [1] and Saynab Muse

Interview by Virginia Were for PhotoForum

Twenty-three-year old Somalian photographic artist Saynab Muse moved to New Zealand with her family in 1998 when she was three years old. After a long civil war, which began in 1991, Somalia was no longer safe and the family arrived as refugees in Auckland, seeking a calmer place and more livelihood and educational opportunities. According to a 2017 UNHCR report, “More than two million Somalis are currently displaced by a conflict that has lasted over two decades, and an estimated 1.5 million people are internally displaced in Somalia”. [2]

Muse, who is Deaf and studies with the help of a sign language interpreter, is currently in her third year of a Bachelor of Creative Enterprise at Unitec, with a focus on photography. Her first photo book ‘Imaanshaha’, which means “arrival”, is an intimate portrait of her family members at home in Mt Roskill where they share close cultural connections with the local Muslim and Somali community. The photographs in ‘Imaanshaha’ were taken during the last two years.

Do you remember anything about your early life in Somalia and your family’s move to Auckland?

I can’t remember anything from when I was a baby. When my parents talk about Somalia, I can’t even imagine what it looks like. I’ve seen things in the news, but I can’t remember anything about being there. I really only know New Zealand – that’s where I’ve lived for the last 20 years.

How was it adjusting to life in New Zealand? I’m guessing it was more difficult for your parents than it was for you.

Yes, my family found it quite difficult to learn English, obviously, and so communicating with people was difficult. I had to learn sign language, and they needed to learn sign language in order to communicate with me. New Zealand and Somali culture are so different – there’s no natural connection there – so they did find it difficult.

How did you begin taking photographs?

When I was very young, I dreamed of becoming an airline pilot or maybe a flight attendant. I also thought about joining the police but I didn’t realise that the communication barriers were going to be such a problem, and I thought, “What am I going to do with my life in the future?”. I asked my parents what they thought and they suggested I look at photography as a career. At the time I was in year 11 at high school and I chose art as one of my year 12 subjects. Once I started, I got really hooked on it and continued to do lots more photography. It was like an addiction. I’d show my friends my work and they’d say, “Oh wow, those are beautiful; maybe in the future you should become a photographer”. So I carried on with that and here I am now.

Imaanshaha is a series of portraits of your five sisters, two brothers, parents and grandmother. Did your interest in portraiture develop early on?

When I started taking photographs, I took portraits of my family. I’ve realised now that there are different types of photography, such as travel photography, which you can pursue, but I’m most interested in portraiture and it has been simple to access my family as subjects.

How did the concept for Imaanshaha evolve?

I’ve always taken photos of my family and I think it’s really important to show our religion and culture. I want to talk about the fact that my family has come to New Zealand – it’s a new environment. And it’s also really important to show that a Deaf woman can be strong and have a voice – it’s quite a feminist thing. In Muslim culture, a lot of us have had bad experiences here in New Zealand, so I guess I want to talk about equality, and to show that we’re human too.

How do your family members feel about being photographed?

They’re happy to be photographed and they feel proud because they know people are looking at these photographs and appreciating them as strong portraits – especially the ones where the subjects look directly at the camera. I really enjoy staging and directing the photographs and I think my enjoyment of working in this way is coming through in the work. It’s easy to do this because of all the different clothes and materials we have. When I’m directing, I tell my subjects what to wear, and I think people do notice that the clothes have beautiful colours and are different from Māori and Pākehā clothing. People are seeing our sense of style, including the Hijab and all the different materials.

Did you learn the process of staging and directing your photographs at Unitec?

When I was at high school I really didn’t realise you could do that. I used to see something and just take a photograph. When I came to Unitec, I started to research other artists and saw that there are other ways of working. I started directing my subjects more and felt that this way of working was more successful. I also had some good feedback from the teachers, and I thought, “This is beginning to click now”. I’ve definitely been developing that skill in recent years.

In many of your photographs there’s a play on the act of hiding and revealing oneself. Figures are fragmented by the camera’s frame or photographed through glass; they stare at us, partly concealed by pieces of fabric. Are you thinking about the politics of seeing and being seen in these images?

Yes I did plan that. I used material to cover the face as a way to talk about hidden identity. When the material comes off, it’s like we’re opening ourselves up and it’s a little bit risky; I’m showing you who I am. I’m thinking about women within culture and within photography – I’m a Deaf woman artist and I want to encourage other artists who are involved in Muslim culture to show their work. At the moment there are only a few of us.

It seems to me that your photographs challenge the idea that Muslim women are disempowered and don’t have a voice. What do you think?

Yes, I’m definitely trying to challenge that idea. The women in these photographs look strong.

How do you communicate with your photographic subjects?

At home we communicate orally. I speak and use some sign language but when I’m outside in the community with hearing people, I normally book an interpreter. It means I can communicate more clearly. Trying to lip read is a huge challenge – some words are easy to pick up, but when you’re getting into a complex conversation and the language is quite sophisticated, it becomes very difficult. I need an interpreter to be able to access the language.

There are a many physical barriers in your photographs – divisions between internal and external space. There’s a portrait of your brother taken through a window with a police security sticker on it. Are you talking about safety, or the lack of it?

Yes, I am. It can be very challenging to relate to some people – when they see that you’re a Muslim, they immediately judge you and don’t want to have anything to do with you. It’s hard because we love people from all cultures and it’s normal for us to want to communicate with everyone. Yes, I’ve had some pretty bad experiences along the way. Racism is still alive in New Zealand, and all over the world.

Since the Christchurch mosque massacre, many New Zealanders have recognised the harm caused by the anti-Muslim propaganda that swept the world after September 11. The tide of misinformation made many people fearful of Muslim culture. Can you comment.

Yes, you’re right, and I really want people to understand that Muslim culture is just normal. They see a Muslim and think, “Oh, that’s a bad person”. I think some people have a misunderstanding of who we are, and they don’t really respect our culture. We’re not saying that everyone has to be the same, and I’m trying to communicate a little more about our culture to the world. Some people just don’t get it. In Christchurch many young people and children died – some only five years old – and that touches our hearts; that’s painful to see and it’s a big thing – a big change for our lives and our community. Suddenly, we don’t feel as safe as we did. We came here because we thought we’d be safe and safety is really important – for our children, our places of worship and our culture. We want to be safe and for our culture to be respected.

The work seems timely, coming from a young woman artist at a time when people are challenging prejudice toward New Zealand Muslims. Do you think there’s a receptive audience at the moment?

Maybe; I don’t know. Maybe it’s a risk. Maybe it’s the wrong time because of what happened in Christchurch. What will people think of my work? Will they look at it and write it off and think it’s bad timing? I’m a little nervous about that, but I’m trying to develop my own confidence around it. I need to be strong in myself and not be afraid.

Photography seems to have developed into a universal language – especially in an age when people express their identity through social media. Have you observed cultural differences in how people respond to being photographed?

In some parts of the world, obviously, people don’t like to have their photo taken, and I think there’s a variety of responses to that. I’ve been very lucky that my family have been open to being photographed because they realise this is important to my future and they want to encourage me. I’m a Deaf woman wanting to become a photographer, and they’re really trying to support me. I’m very lucky to have them and that has been a big part of my motivation – my family has been behind me all the way.

How did you go about selecting images for the book?

The book talks about my family moving to New Zealand, and the photographs I’ve chosen are very much related to Muslim culture in New Zealand; they’re set in the home and the domestic environment. I do have a wide range of other photographs but these ones were picked especially for the book because they focused on those themes. Last year I made a book while I was in Allan McDonald’s class, and this year I’ve reworked the book, changing the text and adding new images. This is my first public book launch and it’s a little bit intimidating, but also amazing. I can’t believe it’s actually happening; it’s an incredible experience in my life. I’m excited to achieve this and I have to say a huge thank you to the staff at Unitec and to my family for supporting me. It has been a team effort.

Virginia Were is a freelance writer and artist who recently completed a Master of Fine Arts at Elam School of Fine Arts, specialising in photography and video. Before that she was Editor of the quarterly magazine ‘Art News New Zealand’. She lives in the Muriwai Valley and loves making photographs, writing about art and riding horses.

Footnotes

[1] Imaanshaha is part of the PhotoForum members publications series. Join PhotoForum and receive a copy.

[2] UNHCR The UN Refugee Agency, Somalia Situation 2017, Supplementary Appeal, January – December 2017. https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-situation-2017-supplementary-appeal-january-december-2017