Portfolio > Interviews

Are you Muslim or Australian? Abdul Abdullah's story
2014

Perth artist Abdul Abdullah is 7th generation Australian, but he still gets asked that question, 'Are you Muslim or Australian' and he still answers, both. He was 15 when September 11 happened and his world transformed into one where Muslims were 'evil.' He's a current finalist in the Archibald Prize for his portrait of Waleed Aly and he gets hate mail for his portrait, from people who tell him to 'go home.'
His story is the subject of a new short film, a collaboration between Screenwest and ABC Arts. You can see it in Internet TV and mobile devices. Go to www.abc.net.au/arts/ArtsWest/default.htm. It's one of five short films about Western Australian stories in a Project called Art X West.
And you can listen to Abdul and award winning film-maker Matt De Koning speak to Gillian O'Shaughnessy here.