Watch FIFA World Cup 2026™

LIVE, FREE and EXCLUSIVE starting June 12 2026

Australian Muslim artists say 'enough'

A new art exhibition in Sydney explores the contemporary Australian Muslim experience.

An artwork in the Khalas exhibition.
An artwork in the Khalas exhibition. Source: SBS News

A group of 15 artists has explored the contemporary Australian Muslim experience in a new exhibition.

The Khalas exhibition at UNSW Galleries in Sydney features works across a number of mediums.

Khalas in Arabic has a several definitions including "stop," "finish," and "enough." Gallery material said the exhibit is named Khalas as "many Australian Muslims have had enough".

Artist Abdul-Rahman Abdullah.
Artist Abdul-Rahman Abdullah. Source: SBS News

News that makes sense

Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

"From the daily media beat-ups, to outright racist leadership taunts directed at Muslims, this modern day Orientalism relentlessly depicts Islamo-fascist terrorists, creeping Shariah and the fantasy of infantilised Muslim women," it says.

Curator Phillip George told SBS News the exhibition offers the chance for Australians to get "outside the Anglo-Saxon dome and start to look at the world with a new vision, a new way of seeing reality".

Curator Philip George.
Curator Philip George. Source: SBS News

"There's a space opening up for artists that can actually bring home the realities to us that we don't necessarily get in popular culture, in mainstream media, or in the bubbles that are Facebook and Instagram," he said.

Featured artist Abdul-Rahman Abdullah said he hoped the viewer will "see the complexity, the diversity (and) the different ways that a Muslim artist might express that".


2 min read

Published

Updated

By Natarsha Kallios



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News straight to your inbox

Sign up now for daily news from Australia and around the world. You can also subscribe to Insight's weekly newsletter for in-depth features and first-person stories.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Follow SBS News

Download our apps

Listen to our podcasts

Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service

Stream now

Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world