Migration Help
7th March 2010, 04:33 PM
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Multiculturalism is seen as 'a kind of favour from white people', say Aamer Rahmen and Nazeem Hussain.
WE PARK down the street and walk to the cafe. It's one of those coolly understated places that Brunswick does so well, with coffee drinkers perched on milk crates and graffiti on a wall. Nazeem Hussain is wearing shiny new runners and holding a small movie camera. Aamer Rahman, his comic confrere, flashes a winning smile above his Run-DMC T-shirt and gets to work.
We're making a documentary about Brunswick, he tells people. Do you live here? What do you like about the place?
A lean guy in a checked shirt and shorts talks about the suburb's ''eclectic mix of people''. A woman raves about the relaxed, laid-back vibe and ''completely mixed demographic''. A female musician says she especially likes this cafe because it attracts lots of different types: you know, young, old, families.
''I've just got one more question,'' Rahman says politely. ''Do you know what gentrification is? Can you define what it means?''
The lean guy shifts uncomfortably in his seat. He doesn't want to say any more. Laid-back-vibe-woman goes on the alert. ''I'm not doing this,'' she says. The musicians giggle and call the waiter over for help.
This guy's pretty sharp, or maybe he's studying politics, because he proffers a comically over-the-top definition. ''Ahh, it's to do with power and alienation,'' he says. ''It's close to genocide but not quite.''
''Whoahhh!'' exclaims Rahman. ''Hang with this guy, dudes!''
As we walk away, the duo burst into laughter. ''Did you realise those people, when I asked 'Why do you hang out in this cafe?' they all said, 'It's really eclectic, there are all these different people from different backgrounds?' '' says Rahman. ''But the missing word was 'white'. They're all white people.''
I hadn't noticed. But when you're in the white majority, you tend not to see things through the prism of skin colour. For Rahman and Hussain, however, race is a constant theme - even when it's not mentioned.
Their 2008 comedy show was called Fear of a Brown Planet. They held ''workshops for whiteys'' (sample advice: ''Just because I'm at the petrol station doesn't mean I work here''), joked about their experiences as victims of casual racism and skewered anti-hijab sentiments. ''If everyone else can shop at Supre and not get arrested,'' observed Hussain, ''I think Muslim women should be able to wear whatever the hell they like.''
Now, they've been funded by VicHealth to work on a three-year project exploring racism in Melbourne. As debate rages over the recent attacks on Indian students, it's a sensitive topic. And Rahman and Hussain, who both have law degrees, are approaching it from many angles. As part of their research, they've filmed interviews with community workers, student advocates and taxi drivers and done vox pops such as that cafe ''hit''. Much of this footage, along with some incendiary mash-ups, is being posted as an online video blog. Later this year, they'll do hip-hop workshops with young people from the western suburbs on the theme of racial discrimination. Ultimately, they hope to make a show inspired by this material and tour it.
As ''brown people'' themselves (their term, not mine), they believe Australia is a racist place. ''There's a really banal, unassuming racism in Australia,'' says Rahman. ''The most basic question you get asked all the time is 'Where are you from?' Or people say 'Welcome to Australia'. It's still overwhelmingly an idea of white ownership of this country.''
A lot of this stuff, adds Hussain, is patronising and possibly unintentional. But even multiculturalism is seen as ''a kind of favour from white people''.
Their new show, Fear of a Brown Planet Returns, delves into violence against Indian students, Palestinian politics and asylum seekers.
Things could easily get didactic but their humour is surreally slippery; their targets jump around, their tone disarmingly conversational. There are jokes about overprotective, high-achieving brown parents (a dad who buys every type of encyclopaedia from the door-to-door salesman; a Muslim date - you, me, my parents and the overseas relatives). And there are digs at brown people who try too hard to be Aussies, like their friend's Pakistani uncle who goes around saying ''G'day, mate, what is up with the fair dinkum?'' Then there are the whiteys who think they know everything about poverty in India because they've seen Slumdog Millionaire. No one's safe, it seems.
It has been a rapid career trajectory and Rahman says his family wishes he'd ''grow up'' and become a lawyer. (It won't be happening.) Hussain says his mum, a former accountant at Telstra, is his biggest fan. ''As long as I come home on time (10pm, ideally) and eat her dinner and I don't swear.''
As Rahman ducks outside Balha's to take a phone call, Hussain tells me of a 40-day retreat he did last year with an order of Sufis in Yemen. The head teacher, Habib Umar, espouses a very peaceful approach to Islam, teaching the ''true essence of the faith as opposed to rigid rules and regulations''. ''It's more about purification of the soul and how you should treat others,'' he says quietly. ''That's really what Islam is about.''
Rahman returns and the pair head off to pray. Then we meet in Collingwood to interview refugee advocate Ramesh Fernandez. Later, over a kebab, we talk about racist attitudes and what might shape them.
Rahman mentions the White Australia policy. Hussain thinks mainstream TV has a lot to answer for. There's barely a brown face on screen - except for those being grilled on Border Security. ''If you look at a show like All Saints, set in a hospital, it doesn't even have any brown or Asian doctors - yet we run the hospitals!''
To read the rest of this report please go to http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/arts/pricking-the-culture/2010/03/05/1267291946881.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
Fear of a Brown Planet Returns is at the Melbourne Town Hall from March 25 to April 18. Bookings: ticketmaster.com.au or 1300 660 013 or at the door; www.comedyfestival.com.au.
The Age is a sponsor of the festival.
Rahmen and Hussain are also performing at the Adelaide Fringe Festival, March 9-14; www.adelaidefringe.com.au, www.brownplanet.com.au.
MH
Multiculturalism is seen as 'a kind of favour from white people', say Aamer Rahmen and Nazeem Hussain.
WE PARK down the street and walk to the cafe. It's one of those coolly understated places that Brunswick does so well, with coffee drinkers perched on milk crates and graffiti on a wall. Nazeem Hussain is wearing shiny new runners and holding a small movie camera. Aamer Rahman, his comic confrere, flashes a winning smile above his Run-DMC T-shirt and gets to work.
We're making a documentary about Brunswick, he tells people. Do you live here? What do you like about the place?
A lean guy in a checked shirt and shorts talks about the suburb's ''eclectic mix of people''. A woman raves about the relaxed, laid-back vibe and ''completely mixed demographic''. A female musician says she especially likes this cafe because it attracts lots of different types: you know, young, old, families.
''I've just got one more question,'' Rahman says politely. ''Do you know what gentrification is? Can you define what it means?''
The lean guy shifts uncomfortably in his seat. He doesn't want to say any more. Laid-back-vibe-woman goes on the alert. ''I'm not doing this,'' she says. The musicians giggle and call the waiter over for help.
This guy's pretty sharp, or maybe he's studying politics, because he proffers a comically over-the-top definition. ''Ahh, it's to do with power and alienation,'' he says. ''It's close to genocide but not quite.''
''Whoahhh!'' exclaims Rahman. ''Hang with this guy, dudes!''
As we walk away, the duo burst into laughter. ''Did you realise those people, when I asked 'Why do you hang out in this cafe?' they all said, 'It's really eclectic, there are all these different people from different backgrounds?' '' says Rahman. ''But the missing word was 'white'. They're all white people.''
I hadn't noticed. But when you're in the white majority, you tend not to see things through the prism of skin colour. For Rahman and Hussain, however, race is a constant theme - even when it's not mentioned.
Their 2008 comedy show was called Fear of a Brown Planet. They held ''workshops for whiteys'' (sample advice: ''Just because I'm at the petrol station doesn't mean I work here''), joked about their experiences as victims of casual racism and skewered anti-hijab sentiments. ''If everyone else can shop at Supre and not get arrested,'' observed Hussain, ''I think Muslim women should be able to wear whatever the hell they like.''
Now, they've been funded by VicHealth to work on a three-year project exploring racism in Melbourne. As debate rages over the recent attacks on Indian students, it's a sensitive topic. And Rahman and Hussain, who both have law degrees, are approaching it from many angles. As part of their research, they've filmed interviews with community workers, student advocates and taxi drivers and done vox pops such as that cafe ''hit''. Much of this footage, along with some incendiary mash-ups, is being posted as an online video blog. Later this year, they'll do hip-hop workshops with young people from the western suburbs on the theme of racial discrimination. Ultimately, they hope to make a show inspired by this material and tour it.
As ''brown people'' themselves (their term, not mine), they believe Australia is a racist place. ''There's a really banal, unassuming racism in Australia,'' says Rahman. ''The most basic question you get asked all the time is 'Where are you from?' Or people say 'Welcome to Australia'. It's still overwhelmingly an idea of white ownership of this country.''
A lot of this stuff, adds Hussain, is patronising and possibly unintentional. But even multiculturalism is seen as ''a kind of favour from white people''.
Their new show, Fear of a Brown Planet Returns, delves into violence against Indian students, Palestinian politics and asylum seekers.
Things could easily get didactic but their humour is surreally slippery; their targets jump around, their tone disarmingly conversational. There are jokes about overprotective, high-achieving brown parents (a dad who buys every type of encyclopaedia from the door-to-door salesman; a Muslim date - you, me, my parents and the overseas relatives). And there are digs at brown people who try too hard to be Aussies, like their friend's Pakistani uncle who goes around saying ''G'day, mate, what is up with the fair dinkum?'' Then there are the whiteys who think they know everything about poverty in India because they've seen Slumdog Millionaire. No one's safe, it seems.
It has been a rapid career trajectory and Rahman says his family wishes he'd ''grow up'' and become a lawyer. (It won't be happening.) Hussain says his mum, a former accountant at Telstra, is his biggest fan. ''As long as I come home on time (10pm, ideally) and eat her dinner and I don't swear.''
As Rahman ducks outside Balha's to take a phone call, Hussain tells me of a 40-day retreat he did last year with an order of Sufis in Yemen. The head teacher, Habib Umar, espouses a very peaceful approach to Islam, teaching the ''true essence of the faith as opposed to rigid rules and regulations''. ''It's more about purification of the soul and how you should treat others,'' he says quietly. ''That's really what Islam is about.''
Rahman returns and the pair head off to pray. Then we meet in Collingwood to interview refugee advocate Ramesh Fernandez. Later, over a kebab, we talk about racist attitudes and what might shape them.
Rahman mentions the White Australia policy. Hussain thinks mainstream TV has a lot to answer for. There's barely a brown face on screen - except for those being grilled on Border Security. ''If you look at a show like All Saints, set in a hospital, it doesn't even have any brown or Asian doctors - yet we run the hospitals!''
To read the rest of this report please go to http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/arts/pricking-the-culture/2010/03/05/1267291946881.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
Fear of a Brown Planet Returns is at the Melbourne Town Hall from March 25 to April 18. Bookings: ticketmaster.com.au or 1300 660 013 or at the door; www.comedyfestival.com.au.
The Age is a sponsor of the festival.
Rahmen and Hussain are also performing at the Adelaide Fringe Festival, March 9-14; www.adelaidefringe.com.au, www.brownplanet.com.au.
MH