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(translation: a person is a person through other people)

Founded in 2023, Ubuntu is an online, interactive magazine that embraces multimedia; where an audio-series can sit right in-between a playscript and an interactive illustration. With a focus on art, culture and history, Ubuntu platforms the work of young, emerging and mid-career creatives throughout Melbourne, Australia. Engaging and collaborating with varied practices and disciplines, the magazine curates artist features and interviews, alongside newly commissioned audio, visual and written works.

Ubuntu is a word with many variations throughout the Bantu language groups of Africa. It is a philosophy of centering community care, and understanding you’re a part of a past, present and future collective. You carry both your ancestors and descendants with you, and the amount of humanity you have as a person, is dependent on how much humanity you give to others.

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Leigh

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An interviewIn conversation with Navaal Saeed
by Leigh Lule

On the genesis and process behind Navaal Saeed’s photography series, ‘The Coloniser’s Game: An ode to one of the oldest metaphors for colonial defiance’

View the series here.

LL
What was the genesis of this project?
NS
The time I started the project coincided with the Cricket World Cup last year. The first game I went to was India v Pakistan, which was one of the biggest sporting events. Full stop. I went with my family, and it was my dad’s first cricket game since having heart surgery back in 2015. Cricket means a lot to him—we have conversations about when he first came to Australia, watching Pakistan win their first ever World Cup in 1992. Seeing his eyes light up talking about being at that game, and telling stories like these made me realise how special this sport can be and that fast tracked me to getting this project going.
LL
Did you ever play cricket growing up?
NS
It was never really about playing, moreso just gathering, watching, growing up going to games. I’ve always been a big sports fan and it being a vessel to represent cultures and communities who otherwise don’t get a platform. Where they’re able to show off their talent and bring along their culture with that—it’s something I’ve always been interested in. Something that I love. Not only through cricket, but also through football—I did my Year 12 essay on the impacts of migration on the success of French and Australian football, and that’s something I want to tap into for a future shoot.
LL
Are there certain players you look to for that representation?
NS
There’s a Pakistani cricket player for Australia who’s one of their best batters, his name is Usman Khawaja. He was one of the first instances I saw someone who looked like me being celebrated across the media. He always made a conscious effort to put his culture forward and be proud of his roots. Athletes like him stand up against these preconceived notions of, “This is a space only for so and so. You can be in this space, but you’ll never be as good as x, y, z.” It’s been like that from the beginning with cricket—England would invite their colonies over in what is still known today as a ‘test match’ where they would literally test the colonies’ worthiness against the British team.
LL
Can you speak to the setting and styling of the shoot?
NS
Cricket is a British sport that they exported to their colonies, and the colonies made it their own. That’s why I wanted the mansion and whiteness of the cricket attire, cause it’s meant to be the ‘gentleman’s game’ or whatnot. I wanted to challenge that with the intricacy of South Asian jewellery and the fact that [the model] is shirtless, barefooted and vulnerable within this ‘proper’ and ‘formal’ setting.
LL
Had you always intended on that sense of contrast?
NS
Yeah, it reminded me of the Pakistan v India game—it was a sold out MCG, so almost a hundred thousand people were in the stands, and the Indians and Pakistanis brought drums and trumpets and were super loud and expressive. There was a portion of the white crowd being like, ‘Oh, they’re being way too noisy.’ I feel like South Asian nations have brought that aspect from their own cultures into what is otherwise quite a boring sport. These loud and vibrant colours, music and attitudes aren’t seen in cricket but ultimately push the game forward.
LL
How does it feel for ‘The Colonisers Game’ to be your first project?
NS
I really didn’t expect to get the team that I did for this. Originally, I reached out to a friend of mine, Fathiah, about how I wanted to showcase Pakistani culture, which I’d neglected in going to an all-white high school. I went to an Islamic primary school, and going from that to almost the entire reverse was followed by a bit of an identity crisis. Mum would pack me dhal and roti, and I would be like, ‘Mum, just give me a vegemite sandwich or something.’ I sort of shut it off in a way, and my brown friends and family back in Pakistan, they’d tell me I’d become a ‘Gora’—a white person. So I’m trying to make an effort to delve deeper into my own culture and I’ve grown to admire it and realise it’s a really beautiful thing.
LL
What did that reconnecting look like for you?
NS
Last year for Eid, I invited my non-Muslim friends over, cause I wanted them to have a slice of what Eid feels like for me. It feels like Christmas for me—I wanted them to experience that and learn about my culture. I remember, while we were prepping, my mum turned to me and was like, ‘Navaal, I’m really happy you’re starting to embrace your culture.’ That meant a lot to me considering how far I had gone to separate myself from it growing up. It fuelled this project in showcasing my culture and experience of it. There’s so many avenues I could have done the shoot through, but cricket was the one that is very close to my heart.

(Disclaimer: This interview has been edited and condensed)

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In conversation with Navaal Saeed

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