Garland Magazine
Loop
31 August 2023
Tasman Munro presents a craft collaboration between Rohingya and Australian makers inside the Kutupalong refugee camp.
For Nuru Salam and Nurus Safar, their practice of weaving bamboo and cane goes back generations. They share memories of simpler times sitting in the shade of a large Banyan Tree in the Rakhine state of Myanmar, telling stories while their hands keep busy weaving baskets and farming tools. These are memories of rest, peace and joyful times with their community. The last six years have not been as simple, both Nuru Salam and Nurus Safar are now refugees living in Kutupalong along with one million other Rohingya people. They were forced to flee Myanmar after successive bouts of state-sponsored violence, the largest of which occurred in 2017, culminating in over 700,000 Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh. In this predicament of forced displacement and the uncertain future of living in the world’s largest refugee camps, their weaving practice offers solace of familiarity and a vehicle to keep their denied culture alive.