Sara Gulamali

Can You See Me, Still?, BA Fine Art 3D, Unilever #Unstereotype, 2019

Sara’s project takes inspiration from her identity as a Muslim woman and how she chooses to navigate spaces. The piece follows a being who can’t be identified by race, religion, gender or sexuality exploring the notion of performing a version of the self through a green screen which can become anything, be anyone.

My practice inhabits a number of roles. However, ultimately, it takes a lot of inspiration from my identity as a Muslim woman of colour, my experiences, my history, and how I choose to navigate spaces. Earlier in my practice, I explored an archive of my grandmother’s migration from Iraq to the UK. It is a journey I could never relate or transport myself to. As a result, I gained a huge interest in the movement of the diaspora, and how the children of that generation navigate the many different environments they now inhabit. Whether it be at home, at university, online, or offline, the way we perform and present ourselves continually changes and transforms.

My degree show work is a manifestation of these ideas coming together. It explores this notion of performing a version of the self, feeling ‘othered’, or like you don’t belong in the places we exist and visit every day. Feeling alien.

The work follows a being, one who cannot be identified by race, religion, gender or sexuality – however they embody this bright green. A green screen. A space which can be nomadic, can become anything, be anyone, but when navigating the world ‘unkeyed’ is simply seen as different, strange, sometimes even threatening. For an audience who are familiar with a Muslim background, one may see the likeness to women who wear burkas, alluding to the current political climate towards Muslims who are often treated as something to be feared and embody feelings of alienation.

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