Episode 129 - Abdul Abdullah - Multidisciplinary artist and self described outsider

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Abdul Abdullah is one of Australia's leading artists and we were lucky enough to meet and interview him at his studio in St. Leonards, shortly before he moves to Bangkok, Thailand.

'Abdul Abdullah is an Australian multi-disciplinary artist. As a self-described ‘outsider amongst outsiders’ with a post-9/11 mindset, his practice is primarily concerned with the experience of the ‘other’. Abdullah’s projects have engaged with different marginalized minority groups and he is particularly interested in the disjuncture between perception/projection of identity and the reality of lived experience. Identifying as a Muslim and having both Malay/Indonesian and convict/settler Australian heritage, Abdullah occupies a precarious space in the political discourse that puts him at odds with popular definitions. He sees himself as an artist working in the peripheries of a peripheral city, in a peripheral country, orbiting a world on the brink. His work has been censored by politicians who have accused him of attacking Australian culture, and once a member of the Christian Democratic party wrote that he wants to “convert young Australians” and that he “worships a moon god”.'

Abdul is represented at Yavuz Gallery, Sydney, and internationally. 

Thanks, Abdul for your time, we really appreciate it.