Through Our Lens: Refugee art exhibition at Community Refugee Welcome Centre, Callan Park

A compelling insight into the stories of Sydney’s refugee community will be explored in the Through Our Lens art exhibition in Sydney’s inner west.

A compelling insight into the stories of Sydney’s refugee community will be explored in the Through Our Lens art exhibition at Community Refugee Welcome Centre in Callan Park.

The exhibition will include around 30 pieces from refugee artists now settled in Australia, with the Through Our Lens moniker referring to the art reflecting the experience of refugees, and marrying their memories with their lives in Australia.

Centre co-ordinator Moones Mansoubi said the exhibition was put on for Sydney’s refugee community, in partnership with Settlement Services International and the Inner West Council.

“All of our projects are co-ordinated by refugees themselves,” Ms Mansoubi said.

“So it’s all about collaboration and friendship – long-lasting friendships are forged here. And I’m proud that we’ve been able to foster this community at the centre.”

Exhibition curator Damon Amb, a photographer and artist who came to Australia in 2013 as an Iranian refugee, said many artists who found themselves in a similar predicament turned to art as their escape.

“Many faced terrible experiences in Australian detention centres, some of our artists suffered for years for committing no crime, but for just seeking asylum,” Mr Amb said.

Feryal with one of her pieces in the exhibition. Picture: Alexi Demetriadi

Damon in front of a piece of photography he put together of the faces and places of Callan Park. Picture: Alexi Demetriadi

“We asked: what else can we do? Many of us expressed ourselves with art, and during our ordeals, art was our only hope. We didn’t have anything else.

“Art was the only way for people to deal and express the situation that they were in.”

Ms Mansoubi said the idea for the exhibition came about through the centre’s tranquil location at Callan Park.

“We’ve got the connection with the park and that’s why we thought: okay, let’s document the park through our lens,” she explained.

One of the artists included is Feryal Zadeh, a famous miniature painting artist. She arrived in Australia in 2018, also from Iran, and one of her works on display is a marriage of her previous life and her new.

“I know that in the park there are over 200 different flowers,” Ms Zadeh said. “But I picked the waratah – the state flower of NSW – and the songbird, which is a symbol of freedom in Iran.”

“I wanted to create a bridge between Persian culture and Australian culture.”

The centre’s exhibition hopes to shine a light on the experience and talent of the refugee community across Sydney.

The Through Our Lens art exhibition will run from February 19-27 at the Community Refugee Welcome Centre in Callan Park.