As part of the 2017 Iraqi Cultural Festival, the Shanasheel Visual Art Exhibition at Fairfield City Museum and Gallery is a fantastic display of the Iraqi community’s cultural richness.
On display are works from Iraqi male and female artists, including fashion designs and jewellery, sculptures, and audiovisual displays. Paintings on exhibit touch on various themes including war and death, the changing nature of Iraqi culture, and existential explorations and fantasies on life, relationships, and the individual.
Juxtaposed with the stillness of the visual art are the lively and colourful music and dance performances. In traditional costumes, the performers bring the large crowds together in the court of the museum. As music plays and people cheer, craftspeople, from jewellers and bakers, textile and fashion designers sell their wares to delighted patrons – from fellow Iraqis, other migrants, and to people born here. The exhibition attracts all different types, of all different ages who call Australia, home; adding both to the people and the land.
