Hafsa Murtaza, Ambivalence of Mimicry, 2024
Oil on canvas
24 x 30 inches
Ambivalence of Mimicry is a self-portrait exploring the interconnections and influences between Eastern and Western cultures. Orientalist ideologies have romanticized, exoticized and subordinated the East in comparison to the West, Othering Islamic cultures. According to Homi Bhabha’s concept of colonial mimicry, the colonial identity needs a subjugated people to exist yet maintains an illusion of superiority by reminding their subjects of a perceived difference through popularizing biased historical narratives, making Islamic Empires appear uncivilized compared to the West. One such fabricated narrative is of Prince Salim’s affair with Anarkali, which led to Emperor Akbar executing Anarkali through immurement, a story upheld in popular South Asian media such as the 1960 Mughal-e-Azam film.
To dismantle the ideological distinction our society has created between the East and West, I assume the role of Anarkali in my self-portrait with two faces that neither represent reality nor are entirely fiction. A plain Western studio background replaces the highly ornate Oriental set of Mughal-e-Azam; the headdress resembles blonde hair yet is a gold satin Hijab. These nuanced symbols make the viewer question what separates Eastern cultures from the West and why we feel unsettled when the East merges with the West.
