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| Graffiti about sex with refugees stunned me – but I wasn’t surprised | Graffiti about sex with refugees stunned me – but I wasn’t surprised |
| (25 days later) | |
| Fri 22 Dec 2017 16.07 GMT | |
| Last modified on Thu 4 Jan 2018 11.58 GMT | |
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| As our cities’ skylines spiral upwards, we have grown accustomed to increasingly bad street art. For self-preservation, we train our eyes to dull the slogans that cover the buildings that gentrification means many can no longer afford to enter, but the white words painted on a wall in Shoreditch, east London, will stay with me: “Sex with refugees is jasmine-scented and beautiful”. | As our cities’ skylines spiral upwards, we have grown accustomed to increasingly bad street art. For self-preservation, we train our eyes to dull the slogans that cover the buildings that gentrification means many can no longer afford to enter, but the white words painted on a wall in Shoreditch, east London, will stay with me: “Sex with refugees is jasmine-scented and beautiful”. |
| The words, which have now been painted over, stunned me. Artist Robert Montgomery says that the words were ripped from another piece of his. This reads: “The refugees are beautiful, they bring ancient music and desert sweets and jasmine-filled sex”, which he happily posted for us all to see. On Facebook he denied creating the Shoreditch graffiti. But either version of the sentiment shows ignorance over the words and social misconceptions about the current refugee crisis. | The words, which have now been painted over, stunned me. Artist Robert Montgomery says that the words were ripped from another piece of his. This reads: “The refugees are beautiful, they bring ancient music and desert sweets and jasmine-filled sex”, which he happily posted for us all to see. On Facebook he denied creating the Shoreditch graffiti. But either version of the sentiment shows ignorance over the words and social misconceptions about the current refugee crisis. |
| It is with a deep bitterness that it has to be spelled out that neither love nor sex is the solution. My mother was born in Malaysia, and this language echoes the colonial narrative that makes me feel sick. Throughout history, women of colour have been presented as alluring and tantalisingly exotic. The repercussions of this are felt through porn, advertising and experiences that women of colour have while dating. | It is with a deep bitterness that it has to be spelled out that neither love nor sex is the solution. My mother was born in Malaysia, and this language echoes the colonial narrative that makes me feel sick. Throughout history, women of colour have been presented as alluring and tantalisingly exotic. The repercussions of this are felt through porn, advertising and experiences that women of colour have while dating. |
| This piece of art mirrors that. The choice of language presents sex with another human as essentially different, foreign or fetish. This is not a great basis for relationships nor a way to bring about racial equality. | This piece of art mirrors that. The choice of language presents sex with another human as essentially different, foreign or fetish. This is not a great basis for relationships nor a way to bring about racial equality. |
| As Jinan Petra, a campaigner against immigration detention, tells me: “To write such racist, orientalist, harmful bullshit about people who have been through so much – including sexual violence – in migration ... there are very few words. I’m a Syrian woman and in my professional and personal life I know that these views exist; the sentiment and the entitlement don’t surprise me.” | As Jinan Petra, a campaigner against immigration detention, tells me: “To write such racist, orientalist, harmful bullshit about people who have been through so much – including sexual violence – in migration ... there are very few words. I’m a Syrian woman and in my professional and personal life I know that these views exist; the sentiment and the entitlement don’t surprise me.” |
| Can anyone explain what next 😷 shit is happening in Shoreditch ? pic.twitter.com/bR6Spt6dQh | Can anyone explain what next 😷 shit is happening in Shoreditch ? pic.twitter.com/bR6Spt6dQh |
| From my own work with female refugees, I am painfully aware of the sexual violence that vulnerable people face. While preparing to teach film-making to young asylum seekers and undocumented youth, we were faced with the grim reality that assault and rape were common. | From my own work with female refugees, I am painfully aware of the sexual violence that vulnerable people face. While preparing to teach film-making to young asylum seekers and undocumented youth, we were faced with the grim reality that assault and rape were common. |
| Not only is the journey notoriously perilous, the dangers don’t stop when you arrive in Britain. Without secure status, you are at the whim of those around you. For some, this has meant staying in abusive “romantic” relationships, while others have faced sexual violence from guards inside detention facilities. | Not only is the journey notoriously perilous, the dangers don’t stop when you arrive in Britain. Without secure status, you are at the whim of those around you. For some, this has meant staying in abusive “romantic” relationships, while others have faced sexual violence from guards inside detention facilities. |
| Even if you do happen to be in a loving relationship, Theresa May’s “hostile environment” can make it difficult. One evening, as the sun set, I awkwardly looked away as a man told his wife he loved her inside Yarl’s Wood immigration detention centre. “Don’t touch her,” a guard barked. They dropped their hands, wondering if this is what intimacy meant now. All the love in the world means nothing without money for a visa. | Even if you do happen to be in a loving relationship, Theresa May’s “hostile environment” can make it difficult. One evening, as the sun set, I awkwardly looked away as a man told his wife he loved her inside Yarl’s Wood immigration detention centre. “Don’t touch her,” a guard barked. They dropped their hands, wondering if this is what intimacy meant now. All the love in the world means nothing without money for a visa. |
| While the Shoreditch “artwork” is disappointing, its obliviousness comes as no surprise. In British schools, we are not taught the true legacies of colonialism nor how people’s livelihoods have been damaged by our warfare. This accounts for people’s shock over the treatment of migrants in Libya. | While the Shoreditch “artwork” is disappointing, its obliviousness comes as no surprise. In British schools, we are not taught the true legacies of colonialism nor how people’s livelihoods have been damaged by our warfare. This accounts for people’s shock over the treatment of migrants in Libya. |
| Often, the charity campaigns surrounding the refugee crisis are no better. Take the Save the Children advert that attempted to garner sympathy through the narrative of a white young girl, asking what if this happened in Europe. It ignored and erased the historical reasons as to why this is not happening here. | Often, the charity campaigns surrounding the refugee crisis are no better. Take the Save the Children advert that attempted to garner sympathy through the narrative of a white young girl, asking what if this happened in Europe. It ignored and erased the historical reasons as to why this is not happening here. |
| Similarly, statements such as “refugees are welcome” is a powerful rallying cry but ignores that the UK has one of the biggest and most cruel detention facilities in Europe. Refugees can be held indefinitely. This is how our government “secures” our borders; it isn’t something we can shag away. | Similarly, statements such as “refugees are welcome” is a powerful rallying cry but ignores that the UK has one of the biggest and most cruel detention facilities in Europe. Refugees can be held indefinitely. This is how our government “secures” our borders; it isn’t something we can shag away. |
| From the perspective of Aleksandra Bilic, a film-maker who came to this country as a child refugee herself: “It is hard to realise that problems cannot be solved without confronting the greater factors at play and that these issues are beyond ourselves. But this is not a topic for artists to literally fuck with, as these are real issues. If you are going to speak on them, you should try and understand them.” | From the perspective of Aleksandra Bilic, a film-maker who came to this country as a child refugee herself: “It is hard to realise that problems cannot be solved without confronting the greater factors at play and that these issues are beyond ourselves. But this is not a topic for artists to literally fuck with, as these are real issues. If you are going to speak on them, you should try and understand them.” |
| This isn’t to say artists shouldn’t tackle political causes in their work. We need political art with teeth. But our talk of politics comes at a high cost. We have a responsibility to do our research, know the context that our work operates in and be genuinely informed about the cause we seek to amplify. If you do, it’ll prevent wasting time painting over shallow and harmful statements that nobody asked to see. | This isn’t to say artists shouldn’t tackle political causes in their work. We need political art with teeth. But our talk of politics comes at a high cost. We have a responsibility to do our research, know the context that our work operates in and be genuinely informed about the cause we seek to amplify. If you do, it’ll prevent wasting time painting over shallow and harmful statements that nobody asked to see. |
| • Jade Jackman is a documentary film-maker and writer based in London | • Jade Jackman is a documentary film-maker and writer based in London |
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