Tazkia Welong
 
Tazkia Fitra Aulia Andi Welong was born and raised in Indonesia. Tazkia came to Australia in 2010 to finish her secondary education at Box Hill High School and is currently a third-year student in the Bachelor of Fashion Design (Honours) at RMIT University.
 
Photography and film have always been her interests, but it was not until 2015 that she started exploring filmmaking as a part of her study. She collaborates with fellow students Aidan Heller (SAE College) and Sara Laurena (University of Melbourne) in the making process.
 
Tazkia Welong
‘The Rule’
2015. Single channel video, 6:18 minutes.
 
“The Rule is based on my personal anecdote. I came up with the idea as I was developing my studio project based on the question, “What is fashion?”
 
“To me, fashion is an idea of expressing one’s inner self, using garments, accessories, et cetera, as the tools to present oneself the way we intended to. In a sense of expressing my inner self, I found myself struggling with my own identity, hence why I tried to explain ‘what is going on’ through this film.
 
“Lastly, I want to make it clear to audience members with the same beliefs as me that this is my story about me and my mother. I understand that within Islam, we as women have certain ‘rules’ on how to dress and I stand by them. Insyaa Allah, I’m currently still in a process of learning my religion further, and I hope you can watch this film with an open mind.”