Suzy Bell
`Have you heard there’s a female Muslim artist in Durban making porn art?” I heard someone say. So I scooted off to the University of Durban-Westville to meet the Durban arts graduate, Asiya Swaleh.
The artist was, at first, quite measured in her response. “People may come to my exhibition purely to be titillated, but I assure you they’ll be disappointed if that’s their sole intention,” she says. A wood carving of a big hairless pudendum is next to a Happy Diwali card. It’s made by Swaleh, and it is beautiful but explicit.
So yes, her work is raunchy, but essentially Swaleh’s art is nothing more than Kama Sutraesque imagery. Porn art – certainly not. Sexy, beautiful, erotic art – for sure.
Swaleh is young, bright and quick enough to sling straight from the hip that: “the overt expression of sexuality exists in all cultures and is part of the Indian tradition that dates back thousands of years.” Yeah, but tell that to the Muslim community, which Swaleh hopes to “enlighten and educate”.
She quotes the Hadith (a collection of Islamic verses) to emphasise her point: “In the Islamic teachings sexuality for men and women is meant to be one of equality, it’s just how it has been interpreted to suit the man. ”
Swaleh firmly believes that part of her culture has been sanitised and sidelined by colonialism: “It’s believed all things sexual are a Western import, and that sexual overtones in dress, manner, speech and the media are Eurocentric in origin. Relief sculptures in the temples reveal that these artefacts date back thousands of years, to a time when oral sex, bestiality, sodomy and open-mouthed kissing weren’t alien to Indian culture; they were the norm.”
Swaleh spent time in India wandering around temples adorned with erotic sculptures. Unprepared for the surrealism of India, but discovering that, sure, it’s the spiritual hub of the universe, she was mildly shocked to discover that it’s not unusual to find boys and men sitting on pavements masturbating while simultaneously maintaining lively conversation with each other”.
She used porn mags as a reference point and spent time in a brothel chatting to sex workers. “I’m very interested in female empowerment,” says Swaleh, and that’s not only why the women are mostly depicted doing it – on top. Her latest work has now almost eradicated the man – he’s been reduced to a mere wave.
Although South Africa is a multicultural society moving towards liberating the mind and spirit, Swaleh feels there’s a conservative clique in the Indian community that is lagging behind, but in her upcoming erotic exhibition she hopes to change all that.