Tashneem Abrahams has brought her art to life in her first solo exhibition honouring Cape Malay culture.
The photographic exhibition titled The Preservation of Cape Malay Culture and Tradition, allows the audience to explore and learn more about the traditions and rituals within the Cape Malay culture.
Hosted in collaboration with the Castle of Goodhope and the Cape Town Muslim & Slave Heritage Museum, the exhibition aims to examine the culture’s vibrant heritage within the culture.
Abrahams said she wanted her work to open a dialogue about preserving culture and allowing audiences to discover the beauty within their traditions.
Abrahams said she was inspired by the rich history of the Cape Malay culture and felt spurred on to do something that would help people feel represented.
“I saw that there was a lack of our culture in art form and decided to start documenting it through pictures,” she said.
The images, presented in colour, black and white and varying shades of sepia, document facets of Cape Malay culture that are intrinsic to its identity. This includes landscapes on Bo Kaap, Cape Malay choirs and mouloods (celebrating the life of Prophet Muhammad).
Abrahams said when she’s visited museums and galleries in the past, she noticed that content was created for the white gaze.
“I love art and I realised that there is little to no space in certain spaces for our stories. I would love for that to change. Representation and inclusivity for our people are important.”
The photographer said she started documenting moments in Cape Malay culture in 2019.
“I went to my first moulood as an adult. I asked many questions about why we do it and what it is. That’s when it hit me that we needed to start discussing our rituals and traditions within our religion and culture.”
Abrahams said she soon realised that the best way to keep culture and traditions alive, is through documenting them.
“Documenting it through any medium is how the culture will survive. I want the audience to realise they play an important role in preserving our vibrant culture for the future.”
In 2021, Abrahams’ work was chosen to compete in The People’s Photography exhibition, which showcased the hardships South Africans faced in the first few weeks of lockdown.
Abrahams, a copywriter by profession, initially studied photography after school but realised that it was not something she could make a living from.
Her message was to show the beauty embedded with Cape Malay culture.
“The religious and cultural side of who we are can co-exist. It doesn’t have to be either.”
The exhibition starts in Bo-Kaap where the first mosque in the area was built, which also touches on gentrification.
“The traditions and culture can be lost so easily if we don’t take care of it to preserve it,” she said.
Thereafter, it progresses through the ritual and spirituality of the moulood, focusing on how it works and what it is about.
Abrahams then concludes it with the Cape Malay choir and the hope for the future in culture and traditions.
“Islam is about learning and knowledge and there are lessons in our history. We don’t have to be stuck in history but there are lessons we can carry with us,” she said.
Curator of the exhibition, Ighsaan Davids, said the exhibition was significant because it provided evidence of the past and how society had evolved.
“It helps us examine our history and traditions and enables us to develop an awareness about ourselves. It helps us understand and explain why we are the way we are,” he said.
He added: “For far too long the majority of us were subjected to a false narrative and an edited or sanitised version of history.”
The exhibition would be on display at the Cape Town Muslim & Slave Heritage Museum until further notice.