The ACSYA Inc. Holds an Assyrian Cultural Exhibit at the Parliament of New South Wales

On Wednesday, 19 October 2022, the ACSYA Inc. held an exclusive exhibit titled Assyria: A Woven History at the Parliament of New South Wales (NSW).

The exhibit was included as part of the NSW Parliamentary Friends of Assyria initiative led by Dr. Hugh McDermott, MP and the Assyrian National Council of Australia (ANCAU).

Background

By the early twentieth century— Indigenous Assyrians were not only uprooted and dispossessed of their native lands, but their ancient tribal culture was devastated.

Many Assyrians found themselves marginalised within the newly established nation states of the Middle East where Indigenous groups were subjected to policies of forced assimilation within the dominant societies.

In some parts of the Middle East, Indigenous Elders were supressed from transmitting any aspect of their traditional culture and were exposed to a wide range of human rights violations.

Experiences of arbitrary arrests, discrimination, economic and social disadvantages, systemic racism, violence, and a host of other abuses compelled some Indigenous Assyrians to distance themselves from their ethno-cultural identity.

These circumstances severely crippled the transmission of traditional knowledge as well as the production of folk garments— the effects of which are felt to this day.

Assyria: A Woven History features black/white portraits of Indigenous Assyrians dressed in their folk garments and who hailed from various parts of their diverse Traditional Homelands.