Ali mc is giving a mic to the voiceless through his exhibition rohingya refugee crisis in colour bea

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Ali MC Is Giving A Mic To The Voiceless Through His Exhibition Rohingya: Refugee Crisis In Colour Like 156

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T his is the tenth y ear of the Hum an Rights Arts & Film Festiv al; a decade of stories that inform , confront, illum inate injustice and introduce the people who dev ote their liv es to sharing stories in the hopes of

awareness driv ing action.

Ali MC, intrepid and curious ex plorer, v isited My anmar for the third time in 201 6 to record daily life through his camera lens.

The photography ex hibition, Rohingya: Refugee Crisis in Colour will rev eal MC’s intimate images of the Rohingy a Muslims of My anmar.

“In my prev ious trips I had been to most parts of Burma but not Rakhine State where the Rohingy a liv e,” he say s. “My trip ended up taking me ov er the border into Bangladesh, where Rohingy a refugees are currently fleeing to.”

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MC witnessed the dev astating circumstances of the Rohingy a muslims, a small but defiant population that has not won the support nor protection from authorities that would enable them to liv e safely in their home country .

As a journalist for New Matilda, MC isn’t new to seeking and ex ploring the political and cultural stories that don’t garner mainstream attention, but really deserv e to. Ev en this seasoned

Fin a list s for Melbou r n e Pr ize for Mu sic 2 0 1 0 A n n ou n ced

journalist was confronted by the env ironment and the situation in

T h y est es a t T h e Ma lt h ou se T h ea t r e

elements.

Gor elesqu e a t Red Ben n ies

Belov ed of Western countries and adv ocates of free speech,

V isible

ethnic cleansing is taking place in My anmar. MC’s ex perience and

My anmar. From the monsoon rains to decrepit refugee camps, both photographer and his subjects were v ulnerable to all

Burma’s current president Aung Sun Suu Ky i has denied that photographs indicate that all reports of ethnic cleansing are

Mon st er s

ev idently taking place.

Qu est ion T im e w it h Clem New t on Br ow n

Diplomatically , MC ex plains that Suu Ky i’s position isn’t a malicious one. “Aung San Suu Ky i is in a difficult position whereby constitutionally , the military still control 50 percent of the gov ernement, including the Army . She has little control ov er the actions of the military . Howev er, to deny ethnic cleansing is both dangerous and disingenuous.”

The role of the ex hibition, as in his prev ious ex hibitions on the human faces behind political turmoil, is to raise awareness in Australia of the plight of our neighbours. “My aim in this ex hibition is to show Rohingy a people with strength and determination, to show the shared human spirit.”

The ex hibition is also a wake up call to Australian politicians and people that hav e a role in the politics of Burma. “Australia funds My anmar in aid to the tune of nearly 50 million dollars a y ear,” MC ex plains. “That’s a lot of negotiating power – but giv en the abundance of natural resources in Burma and the profits to be made – like in West Papua – the Australian gov ernment is unlikely to do any thing and as such, remains complicit in the ethnic cleansing.”

Despite the suffering and trauma ex perienced by Rohingy a people daily , MC also witnessed and photographed the dignity and the sense of determination that remains strong in the men, women and children within the community .

“Often the only side we hear is the trauma and v ictimhood. Instead I wanted to show other aspects of Rohingy a people's liv es through this ex hibition and confront the v iewer with shared humanity , and not as the v iewer of v ictimhood.”

The role of art in depicting human suffering is a conflicted one.

There is a fine line between ex ploiting the subject and truly doing justice to people and places in the process of creativ ity .

“I'v e been in situations where people did not want their photo taken and y ou hav e to respect that. Y ou don't want to put y ourself out there speaking on behalf of a community that y ou hav e no right to do,” say s MC. “In this project I hav e kept in touch with Rohingy a people in the refugee camps and also linked up with Rohingy a community members here in Melbourne to prov ide a platform for their v oice to be heard.

“As I read somewhere once, y ou don't need to be a v oice for the v oiceless, y ou just need to pass the mic.”

By Cat Woods Rohingya: Refugee Crisis In Colour will be ex hibited at Fitzroy Library until T hursday May 25. A Q&A presentation with Kon Karapanagiotidis from the Asy lum Seeker Resource Centre, m em bers of the local Rohingy a com m unity and other guests will take place on Sunday May 7 . T he ex hibition is part of Hum an Rights Arts & Film Festiv al.

HUMAN RIGHTS ARTS AND FILM FESTIV AL ROHINGYA REFUGEE CRISIS IN COLOUR FITZROY LIBRARY