Yasmin Falahat: “Apart from being Iranian and Turkish Cypriot, I’m a million other things”
The ceramicist on making her own box, quietly asserting her identity and feeling alien
Hi, welcome back to Mixed Messages! This week I’m speaking to ceramicist Yasmin Falahat, who is of Iranian and Turkish Cypriot heritage. I’ve loved Yasmin’s ceramics for a while, so when I discovered she had mixed-heritage I couldn’t wait to dive deeper into her story. Read the story behind the kiln below.
How do you define your heritage?
My dad is Iranian and my mum is Turkish Cypriot, born in London. Usually I say that I’m half-Iranian, half-Turkish Cypriot, but I do try not to say half because it makes me sound like I’m not enough of each one.
Have you ever felt like you weren’t enough?
Not being able to speak the languages fluently is a big part of it. I know basic conversation, but I do want to learn them [properly.] You can feel like you’re disappointing people if you pronounce things wrong or say you can’t speak Farsi or Turkish, but they don’t understand the history.
My mum’s parents moved to London and wanted to integrate into British society. But when you meet an acquaintance, you can’t unload your whole family history. When people see you as exotic, they expect you to fulfil all their expectations. It’s hard to shift that, even within ourselves.
Most of my extended family also live in other countries, and sometimes not partaking in certain traditions makes me feel not enough of those things. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve tried to not see it that way because there’s so many other ways [to connect] – growing up, the house always had Persian rugs everywhere and my mum would cook Turkish food and my dad would cook Iranian food.
When I was younger, I had an emo phase. Back then it was a very white thing, and you felt out of place in those scenes if you weren’t white. It forces you to find your own sense of belonging in a way. Now, there’s so much representation. I’m happy for kids these days, and maybe a bit jealous.
It sounds like your sense of self has strengthened over time – is that the case?
I was very insecure. When I was younger I didn’t know what colour to paint my skin when doing self portraits in school. Now, I can laugh about it.
When you’re growing up, you don’t feel like it’s cool to know stuff about your identity. The older I’ve gotten, the more comfortable I am, and I’ve got a greater sense of curiosity and wanting to embrace who I am. It’s definitely been a journey. Especially since Brexit, it seemed personally more important to embrace my cultures, saying ‘this is me’ instead of hiding away.
My work grew out of embracing that connection to my cultures – when you grow up, you realise it’s a fun thing to talk about and share.
I love your work – I have several pieces with eyes on more! How do you choose the fruits you make?
Talking to friends, some of them had never eaten a pomegranate or a fig until recently. These are fruits I grew up eating.
It started out with me being very visually interested in those fruits, but then a friend put on an exhibition about Black, Asian and ethnic minority artists and what activism means to them personally. Brexit was happening at the same time, and I just wanted to embrace myself and my identity and it not have to be in a loud way.
I started drawing close-up pictures of honey melon and fig seeds, so close that they looked quite alien and you weren’t sure what they were at first. I related to that sense of feeling like an alien.
I didn’t want it to be ‘this is my Iranian and Turkish business,’ because it’s not all about that. But that’s where it stemmed from. The things I make are very personal. People ask why I don’t do different fruits, but my dad would always pick melons and chop them up for us all to share and my parents had a fig tree in the garden. But I never wanted it all to be about my identity because apart from being Iranian and Turkish Cypriot, I’m a million other things.
Did you ever speak to your family about being mixed?
Not really. There have been times where I’ve wanted to mark certain traditions, but you don’t want your family to think that you’re worried or feel different. Even if you don’t bring it up in a negative way, parents worry. It’s always been something I’ve talked about more with friends.
How do you want the conversation around mixedness to develop?
I don’t mind people asking what mix I am. Sometimes people are genuinely curious, I am when I see mixed people. There’s ways of asking it without making someone feel like a weird alien, and you don’t have to answer them if you don’t want to. You don’t owe them anything.
I do think people are asking in a more understanding way, maybe that’s my bubble but I think it would be nice if it got to a point where people ask and it’s not out of ignorance.
What’s the best thing about being mixed for you?
Having different cultures, different foods and experiences. Personally, I feel like it makes me very open-minded and open to all different types of people. Feeling different, or not quite permanent, can open things up more. You’re outside the box. It’s fun that there’s no one rule, you get to make your own box!
Can you sum up your mixed experience in one word?
Open. You have to be open to the different parts of yourself, different people, the world…
Shop Yasmin Falahat’s ceramics here. Next week I’ll be speaking to author Ashleigh Nugent. Subscribe to get Mixed Messages in your inbox on Monday.
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Mixed Messages is a weekly exploration of the mixed-race experience, from me, Isabella Silvers. My mom is Punjabi (by way of East Africa) and my dad is white British, but finding my place between these two cultures hasn’t always been easy. That’s why I started Mixed Messages, where each week I’ll speak to a prominent mixed voice to delve into what it really feels like to be mixed.