Oasis: A celebration of Muslim women
In partnership with Viaduct Harbour
For a second year running, 80 Muslim women gathered at Esther Restaurant for Oasis edition two in celebration of each other and their place as Muslim wāhine of Aotearoa, New Zealand. Oasis is a yearly reminder to pause and remember that our strength is in our diversity. We are united in our shared dreams and aspirations, and that we must celebrate each other in order for us to thrive.
Friends of Sauce - Lena Kheir, Hana Malak, Farida Refaat, Yasmine Mohamud, Hayat Kheir and Basma Hassan [clockwise]
Photography by Holly Sarah Burgess
The day began when event director Latifa Daud welcomed the guests and reminded them that the Oasis event is just that, a safe place to make new connections and strengthen the bonds of sisterhood. She then passed on to Haya Fatima Khan, founder and director of Masala Bazaar. In a moving speech, Haya spoke about her journey moving to Aotearoa from Pakistan, finding her identity, and establishing the movement that is Masala Bazaar. She reminded everyone in the room that there is space for us all to pursue our dreams, and that when one of us succeeds, we all succeed.
Yordanos Berhane and Zeenat Wilkinson
“Too often we fall into the trap of thinking that, as people of colour there can be only one of us that is allowed to take up space. One of us that is allowed to succeed and if there is another ‘one’ of us that has ‘made it’ then they’re taking that opportunity from all of us.
Fostering our community, sowing the seeds of kindness, empathy, leadership, education and true pride in one another allows us to defeat that narrative. It allows us to whole heartedly clap for those that succeed because we know there’s room for everyone at the table.
The truth is, the success of any one of us, should be seen as a success for all of us. To see another Muslim wāhine shine is to see the voices of our community being uplifted and amplified. A moment to always be celebrated. The more of us that are shining, the brighter the future looks for all of us.” - Haya Fatima Khan
Left - Yasmine Mohamud and Hana Malak
Right - Sisters Hayat & Lena Kheir
Below - Guest Speaker Haya Khan and friends
Behind the scenes was run by allies of the Muslim community:
Sammy Saxton-Beer and Stacey Milham-Johnson from Viaduct Harbour
Zeenat Wilkinson and Arna Howard from Sauce, Media Partners
Yordanos Berhane, Event manager
Jane Simich, Event assist
Mahlete, DJ
Holly Burgess, Portrait Photography
Krishna Buenaventura, Event Photographer
Hayat Kheir, Styling
Words, Latifa Daud
Above - Rukhsar [guest and friend of Sauce]
Guests and friends of Sauce & Viaduct Harbour
The logo is hand drawn by Aakifa Chida of Chida Studios in honor of Islam’s deeply rooted calligraphic tradition. The chai was a personalised blend of Zeenath Mohamed of House of Chai. Creative direction was by Zeenat Wilkinson from Sauce Mag. Goody bags included branded cookies by Zaina Ismail of Cookie Haven, hijab magnets by Zainab Patel of Forever Hijab, and lolly bags by Sweetening NZ.
A huge Thankyou to our goody bag sponsors who created some amazing items for the attendees to take home
@cookiehaven_
@masalascents
@sweeteningnz
@smitea_nz
@foreverhijab.nz
@twoislandsco
