Toothbrush painting up for top art prize
A REFUGEE held for eight years in Australia’s hardline immigration system earned a finalist spot in the nation’s top art prize yesterday – for a self-portrait he painted with a toothbrush.
For artist Mostafa Azimitabar, a Kurd who fled persecution in Iran, the honour came just over a year after he was released from one of Australia’s notorious immigration hotels.
He told AFP a finalist berth for the Archibald – a portrait prize worth AUD$100 000 (about R1.1 million), which has been awarded to some of Australia’s most esteemed artists – was “one of the best moments of my life”.
Azimitabar’s self-portrait was painted using a toothbrush, a technique he began experimenting with in 2014, soon after being put into one of Australia’s offshore immigration detention camps on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea.
“I asked one of the officers on Manus: ‘Can I have some paint? I would like to do some artwork because I don’t want to give up’,” he recalled.
After the officer said he might eat the paint to inflict self-harm, a frustrated Azimitabar returned to the room he shared with dozens of men.
On a table, he spotted a cup of coffee and a toothbrush.
“I don’t know what happened … that moment was so special for me. I grabbed the toothbrush and I put it in the coffee and I just dragged it (on some paper),” he said, describing this as his “moment of victory”.
Azimitabar’s self-portrait is titled KNS088, the government identification number he was given during his
eight years in detention.
He said painting was a reminder that he was a person, not a number.
“Art and painting helped me to be strong, to continue. Because when I paint, I don’t feel any trauma,” he said.
The UN High Commission for Refugees has repeatedly called on Australia to close its offshore camps, saying they “undermined the rights of those seeking safety and protection and significantly harmed their physical and mental health”. On January 21, 2021 he was released, with little warning or explanation.