Diya Studio

 

Beginning of a Beautiful Life – Photography Mustafa Zafar

Ibteda, in Urdu, (my language) means the beginning. Its the name given to my SALA 09 exhibition, by my husband, Mustafa Zafar. I am truly grateful to him because he’s the only reason, I shifted to Australia, and is responsible for our beautiful life here. We both recently became Australian citizens last month and so this exhibitions marks the beginning of our new journey in this scared land.

I still remember, I was working in my studio, late one night, back in Pakistan. He causally walked up to me, as I was concentrating on one of my pieces, and he said, ” I want to move to Australia!” and obviously I was so engrossed in my painting, I didn’t even make an eye contact, and said,” ummm ok?! but why Australia?!!!!” He replied,  “…because the Australians know how to laugh, and I want to be among them because they seem to be so happy!” – That was enough for me to say yes, lets do it!!!

Within six months we got the paper work done, and booked a flight to Adelaide. I have to say, I was so busy packing and saying good byes, I never asked him where we were going!! To me Australia was only Melbourne or Sydney and have never even heard of a place, Adelaide. After a very LONG, sick and terrible flight, we landed here, which then looked totally empty as it was after 5pm on a Saturday and everything was closed. On the way from the airport to our hostel, in the taxi, I asked Mustafa,” what’s this place called again?!”, took me a few days to remember the name, and pronounce it right!

After a few cultural shocks and some weird experiences, I was ready to go back home in six months. Then, by chance one day Mustafa on his way back from uni, got a flier that said, ‘looking for art work for a new shop, opening in the city’. I called the people, got myself the first interview ever, at the city Cibo. When I walked out, I wasn’t sure how it went, because I just really didn’t want to stay here and wanted to leave so badly, I just didn’t care. Mustafa just softly said in my ears, ” If they don’t take your work for their shop, trust me it’s their loss!!” That just changed everything in my life. I looked at him, and saw how much he believed in me and my work and that gave me the desire to believe in myself too.

The next day, I walked down Rundle mall making myself almost invisible, teary eyes and promised myself, ” The people of Adelaide, will LOVE ME, I will make them LOVE me!” It almost became an obsession (still is!) to be loved by people here, because I really wanted to stay for Mustafa and wanted to be Happy. Coming from a family, where I was extremely LOVED, made it harder for me, to know no one, and to also know the fact that no one really cares about me here.

While working at many different jobs, I kept teaching myself to grow and to become a better person. To learn about the people and to make an effort to reach out to make friends everywhere and anywhere I went. I worked during the day in the super market and came home and worked on my art at night…for four years tried not to charge for henna and just give, give and give all that I had to the people here, just to make them like me. Henna, the cultural thread I carry with me all the time, is my best friend and I started sharing her with everyone and anyone that came my way, in many different ways.

Once when working at the Gallery of SA, I met up with Adelaide’s most beautiful Willcox Family. Fell in love with each one of them in the first encounter, and prayed to see them again soon. A few months after, we met them again at Womad, where I was given the opportunity to work and share my Henna. As it was so busy, the first day, I still remember Simon and Victoria Willcox came back the next day early, only to be touched by my Henna.  They were there even before I was there and so that small, yet very kind gesture stayed with me the whole event. I felt like I was on top of the world because they made me feel extra special. Soon after that, they invited me to do Henna at one of their party, and that’s when I realized, how scared these people have become for me, as they were not only becoming my friends, but they also were teaching me the beautiful culture they belong to, and by welcoming us into their homes were making us their family.

A happy moment with the Willcox family, Photography by Mandi Whitten*

It was just a few months ago, when Simon just shifted his surgery, in Unley – http://hartdentalsa.com.au/ and asked me to do SALA there.  I was speechless, at the offer, and said YES! It is an extremely special exhibition, because it’s my first one after becoming an Australia citizen, and also the first solo show in Adelaide. I was blessed to have had Simon, his wife Victoria and daughters Amelia and Adelaide, support and encourage me throughout the preparation of this show. They and loveliest Heather ( who works for Simon!) organized every single thing, and all I had to do was create the paintings and put them up!! I dont think words are enough to thank these kind people for gifting me a chance to share my work with all and also to make us feel at home here and to make our dreams come true.

Ibteda, is an exhibition, that will always stay very close to my heart, as it marks the beginning of my journey into my own soul. I was thrilled to see the number of people, who had come along to be part of this special night with me. I felt extremely loved and satisfied, and believed in the magic of love that surrounds me. Even as i am writing this, the feeling of looking at those people standing in the crowd, shakes me from within. I looked around in that room, on the opening night, and didnt find a single stranger there… all the people who came were people I knew and called them my friends…that to me was an achievement, more than anything on that night. I just wish I am giving back something to all these lovely people, and pray to be always there to support them when needed.

In my speech that night, I got so nervous I forgot to thank the most important people in my life like Mustafa, our parents, and Simon and his family. Without their support I couldn’t have reached this far and just wanted to acknowledge them here on my blog.

In the end, I just want to say, dont wait for that perfect moment you think is going to come, because there is no perfect time but now. I couldn’t keep waiting for magic to happen, I realized magic was not only around me, but also within me, and there is no day better than today! So begin the magic, by believing in yourself today and letting go of your past, look straight into your future and have your IBTEDA today !!

Time we have together is nothing we can keep

So let us not talk of share and winnings

Wait and see what happens when you venture deep

And share the joy of new beginnings !

By Simon Willcox for Ibteda

 

If you want to see more pictures of the night and also of the models that were painted for the opening night, please click on http://bit.ly/Ibteda

*http://weensyweb.com/

This entry was written by Humna Mustafa, posted on 25 August 2009 at 10:34 am, filed under Exhibitions, Personal. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.