‘Sumood’ – Safdar Ahmed – bid is at $150

Safdar’s creative work finds inspiration in romantic art, fantasy literature, underground comix, zine-making and the DIY ethos, horror films, heavy metal music, and is connected to a powerful political sensibility shaped by the combination of his work with the Refugee Art Project and his readings in critical theory and postcolonial studies.

‘The RAP employs the community art and cultural development model and practice, which emphasises ethical collaboration.

‘I think it democratises the appreciation and making of art,’ Safdar says.

‘Some of the work made in the Refugee Art Project community – often by people who had never attempted art before – has become my favourite work.

‘It’s art that conveys so much power and meaning.’

2022 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards held in the Mitchell Reading Room

Safdar explains that he became involved in refugee support and advocacy work mostly by accident.

‘I used to work at Sydney Uni and back in late 2010 a friend told me he was visiting the Villawood Detention Centre. I was curious to go and see what it was like so I tagged along,’ he said.

‘My only thought at the time was that I didn’t want to just go there and gawk at people, so I decided to take my sketchbook and see if anyone was interested in drawing with me, as something I could share.

‘A few friends liked the idea so we went in every week and in a short space of time we had a really nice drawing circle involving many detained refugees who were interested in taking part and who quickly became good friends.

‘The work that came from that was so powerful we decided to have public exhibitions and in collaboration with community members use the art in various ways, giving them a way to express themselves.’

In the first year the group set up a studio in north Parramatta, as a place to meet people in community detention. They are now based in Ashfield.

‘Our community is still going strong which makes me very proud, welcoming new people along the way and still doing innovative creative projects,’ Safdar says.

‘I didn’t intend to make a graphic novel but after a couple of years of visiting Villawood I felt like someone had to document what was going on and that was the beginning of what became Still Alive, which took over 5 years to make. That community has been the true highlight of my life and I’m glad the group still supports people.’

‘Art to me is about the creation of meaning which helps us understand our place in the world and with respect to one another. That relational aspect is crucial I think. Art is one of the most important ways we are able to communicate in terms of the things we value, using storytelling, reason and logic, as well as the things we just love with all our hearts, in the damp, sludgy terrain of our amorphous intuitions, sensations and feelings.’

Safdar grew up in the Blue Mountains, which he says was a lovely place to be a kid in the 80s and 90s. He was exposed to creative people as a child, former hippies who escaped the rat race of Sydney.

‘I was a shy, imaginative kid so growing up in the bush was good for me. I particularly love the sounds of the trees — the dense chorus that forms when the wind picks up and blows through the Eucalypts. It’s an almost angelic murmuring which I often forget and am reminded of when I go back there.’

‘I’ve spent the last few weeks feeling exhausted so my approach to this kite was pretty straightforward. I started with a human face and saw how I could embellish or develop it from there, working with gesso, acrylic paint and marker on the kite canvas.’

Safdar explained that the title of his kite – Sumood –  means steadfastness, perseverance and survival.

Asked about his hopes , Safdar says he wishes for lots of things, but the most prominent of those at the moment is for the genocide in Gaza to end, and for a process of justice that would genuinely liberate the Palestinian people, to give them their political autonomy and full human dignity.

‘We can only hope these genocidal atrocities create a decisive, global turning point — to permanently bin the dehumanising language of anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia (and the ‘war on terror’ framing Israel exploits) in favour of a genuine movement for global justice and liberation. It goes without saying the atrocities we’ve witnessed over the last year have had a deep impact on the security of people here (given our own government has in many ways aligned itself with the perpetrators of genocide, ignoring and dragging its feet on recent ICJ and ICC rulings), so it means a lot that we are able to come together as a creative community in resistance, love and support.’

If you would like to learn more about Safdar, follow the link to his website.

https://safdarahmed.com