Aseel Tayah is a Palestinian artist and activist for human rights
Can you tell me a little bit about yourself, and your work?
I'm a Palestinian artist, activist for human rights and a mom of three-year-old. I am a performing and installation artist that likes creating spaces for and with people, and about people, and transforming their ideas and their stories into something that we can tell through art.
In looking at your work, there’s a set of core themes and messages. What do you think sits at the centre of each of your projects?
My magical tool is my passion about people, humanity, connection, and love. Between my passion and people's love, trust, and support, I feel I can do things. For example, the Lullabies Under the Stars project came about because I asked myself why we don’t sing First Nations lullabies, even before we learn Twinkle Twinkle Little Star? As a child and as a mum, I always sang lullabies, but I didn’t know any First Nations lullabies, my passion and curiosity toward the owners of the land’s history and stories created this show.
How did you tell your story of post-natal depression through your work?
Both Lullabies Under the Stars and the toy libraries were created partially because I was suffering from postnatal depression. One of the things that helped me at the time going to the toy library, and seeing other mums, and borrowing a toy or two. When I had my daughter, I just pretended everything was great, and I didn't even know I had postnatal depression until really late. I kept wondering, why am I crying every second minute? What is going on? Because I was still achieving things at the time, I wouldn’t acknowledge
the fact that I wasn’t well. And finally, I realised other people might feel the same, and I should go and talk to someone. That doesn’t always happen, because the media can try to show families as being perfect. But no one really asks about mums, especially new mums. Lots of people that experience mental health issues, but it’s not mentioned. People don’t always receive any therapy or healing.
Lullabies Under the Stars was a way for me to create a space for mums to come into our show, mums who may not know anything about mental health. And then explain this and then say, that's why actually I use lullabies – because they’re something that many people around the world have sung about their trauma, through lullabies. Lullabies was a space for first for mums and then their children because these shows don’t always have to be for children. To raise healthy children, we need to support mothers to be okay.
Can you tell me a little about the Toy Libraries?
The toy libraries project, called ‘We Too Want to Play’, started as a dream. I really wished we could do this – build a toy library in Palestine, where I am from. And then I went online and posted a campaign that outlined what I wanted to do. And then I went to sleep, and when I woke up I had $2,000 or $3,000 already donated to the campaign. And that was the very first day.
There was also a lot of help from the wider team here in Melbourne, and back home. In Palestine, there are collections spaces in each village where people could donate toys for the library. By the time I arrived in Palestine, the fundraising was already $25,000 – andwhen I arrived, there was almost that much again in donated toys. It was a whole trailer full of toys: 280 huge boxes of toys. My parents’ house was full, inside and outside of toys. There wasn’t even anywhere to sleep.
That was amazing. And even though the toy libraries are designed for children aged 0-4 years old, they attract a lot of older children in Gaza. In the morning, after the children have gone, teenagers appear at the libraries because they don’t have anything else to play with. So, the need is huge. Now, we have six libraries in Gaza, two in the West Bank, and another one is almost ready.
We have a saying in Arabic, [الام مدرسة], mothers are school, [اذا اعددتها], if you will prepare them, [اعددا شعبا طيب الاعراق], you prepared a whole nation, that is based on good value. And that's what this meant for us.
What do you think are some of the biggest issues that are facing women, non-binary, and gender diverse people here in Melbourne?
I do not think I can speak for all women, but the harassment that people can face is something that’s a red light for me. Harassing women who wear the hijab, or young girls, or older women. And being here, it can be hard to find a place to catch up with friends. Pre-COVID, most catch ups were an after-hours drink – and in an environment with alcohol, and speaking my own language, people would look at me like a strange . Even now, walking in the middle of the day, I still get scared of people’s looks. Even though I know I did nothing, I still get worried every time I see a police officer coming close. It feels like, is it because of me? Is it because of the hijab? Being who I am, being Muslim, being Arab, being brown, these looks make me feel insecure.
How have you coped with 2020, and the impact of COVID on your work?
I’ve been busy working from home. I created a video with a number of different artists to support Lebanon and Beirut after the explosions. The video was created by 15 or so artists from different backgrounds: some did music, some did poetry, and some sung. I made it because I felt as though we could not just live as though nothing had happened. None of the artists were paid, but we managed to raise money for the arts, and culture in Lebanon, to support other artists.
During our own lockdown in Melbourne, we supported the communities in the housing towers. It was a very hard lock down on the communities, because Eid was coming. It was the Eid al-Adha, the second Eid we have. And I could just imagine how children are normally so excited about going to the mosque, or get some lollies and so on. So I transformed my house into a whole kind of factory line of all the goods needed for Eid. And between me, my three-year-old and my husband, we created around 1500 gifts for children in the community housing. We had so much support from the community, and that was really one of the most beautiful experiences, just to even show my daughter what Eid means: that there was a joy of making things for others was worth all the hard time.
That's really give me a good feeling to continue with this work. This year I won the best speaker at a TEDx Melbourne competition, I was a AMA finalist for Australian Muslim creative of the year, I just won an Award for Excellence in the Arts by the Victorian Multicultural Commission, and the winner of WAW 2020 creative pioneer and this is really encouraging – we know that the work being done here is appreciated and I feel it is just the start.
Interview Jessamy Gleeson Photography Mia Mala McDonald
