Summary

Black cotton face mask with the words 'This Is A Socially Acceptable Face Mask' printed across the front. It is an example of the face masks sold by Zurlia Istiviani Usman in her store EMAAN in Sydney Road Coburg, 2020 (the store, House of EMAAN having relocated from Brunswick) as a way of adapting her business to the COVID-19 pandemic. This mask, which comes with a care instruction card, is for Muslim and non-Muslim clientele and is making an overt political statement about public debate around Muslim women's traditional attire.

Zurlia Istiviani Usman arrived in Australia on a scholarship in 1988, followed soon after by her husband Gofar and daughter. Returning to Indonesia in 1992 after their visas expired they re-returned on temporary visas and obtained permanent residency in 1996. Zurlia opened an Islamic clothes store in Sydney Road Brunswick in 2003 (now EMAAN in Sydney Road Coburg) and since 2018 it has been managed by one of her five daughters Anisa who has evolved and broadened the business. During the 2020 pandemic, the family has adapted the kinds of goods sold, including becoming an international mask supplier using local ethical manufacturing for the first time.

Significance

Statement of Historical Significance:
This collection provides an important insight into the development of small businesses catering particularly for Muslim communities, and more particularly women. It also documents how a small business has coped during the Covid-19 pandemic. The story also represents the contemporary migration and settlement story of a family of Muslim-Indonesian background.

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