Welcome Merchant

17/02/2026

Last Sunday 15th, we held our 3rd event at iconic . Thank you to those who supported our Summertime Refugees & Friends Pop-up Market, despite the heat.

Look at these lovely merchants posing - .crafts .accessories.au .collection.jo & Hajat. Thank you for collaborating with us. We also sold bottles of and copies of book on behalf of on the day!

This is real social cohesion - coming together to support artists and artisans who weave their culture into the amazing products they sell.

Reel by Emma Spiteri for Welcome Merchant

Thank you Section 8 for hosting us again!

welcomemerchant

VD: Merchants posing under a big yellow, rectangular banner, hung on a chain link fence. Market stalls.

15/12/2025

Thank you to this hero for saving lives.

This is another hero from yesterday’s disgraceful anti-semitic shooting in Bondi. This hero is a refugee without a permanent visa. Our client's name isn’t publicly available so we are using AB. They are the person circled in red in the left of the photo.

AB ran towards the shooting when it started and gradually worked his way to the bridge where the shooting was taking place. He knew the shooter on the bridge would need to reload and he waited for this opportunity. When the shooter was hit, this hero ran up the bridge and kicked away the gun the shooter was still holding. Other bystanders misunderstood his intent and kicked him, but AB didn’t fight back and a detective helped make it clear that AB is a civilian who was brave enough to step in and help.

The photo above shows the moment AB commenced running up the stairs to the bridge to disarm the shooter.

07/12/2025

Cute moments from our final event this year in Narrm/Melbourne, our Christmas Ho-Down Market at in Brunswick.

Thank you to those who came yesterday despite the rain. Thanks to for bringing the beats, and to these excellent merchants, give them a follow to find out how you can buy from them directly and when their next market will be:

⭐️Uzay Ceylan via
⭐️ - you'll find them at next
⭐️ .crafts
⭐️ .kape
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⭐️.naray
⭐️ .accessories.au
⭐️
⭐️ at Werribee Market next
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⭐️ .collection.jo
⭐️ Drinks from & .au
⭐️ Erica Pearl Fashion

Reel by Emma Spiteri.

Photos by .irba coming soon.

Thank you to the Balam Balam Place for hosting us!



VD: Market scene, stallholders waving to the camera, smiling, customers around

30/11/2025

Full film is here now - Story of Power featuring Arad Niksefat from . A beautiful & poignant film by .

Arad's Mum, affectionately called Aromatic Woman, is the inspiration behind his business. Every spoonful of the Tira Jam or Brekkie pouch honours Arad's memory of his late mother. You can order via: persiaspantry.com.au

Thank you to for supporting this film.

If you watch this film, we'd love for you to like and/or comment below. You can watch our other refugee-powered films here or on our YouTube, links in bio.



VD: Skies over Tasmania, Arad talking about his mother, his food memories, Arad at his Salamanca Market stall and at the Cygnet Market stall, Arad making his products, showing his storage

24/11/2025

Food is memory on a plate! Full episode of , Season 2, Episode 3 featuring Arad Niksefat of is OUT NOW on our YouTube channel, link in bio.

Arad is a former pathologist from Iran, now making delicious sweets inspired by his mother, the "Aromatic Woman" in the beautiful lands of Melukerdee and Lylequonny people (Huon Valley, south-east Tasmania). His work is a testament to the love he has for his late mother. We hope you enjoy this beautiful film by as much as we have.

Thank you to for supporting this project. Thank you to in Cygnet and in Hobart for allowing us to film Arad there. You can catch Arad's stall at these markets, he's at Salamanca every weekend and he's at the monthly Cygnet Market if time permits.

Thank you Arad for sharing your story with us, once again. Please watch the full film on the link in our bio.

16/11/2025

New Episode coming soon - full film out on November 25.⁠
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Get to know Arad Niksefat, a Persian refugee business founder now living in the beautiful Huon Valley, Tasmania, the lands of the Melukerdee and Lylequonny people. Arad’s business, Persia’s Pantry, is inspired by his mother, called the Aromatic Woman by everyone who met her. Thank you to Huon Valley Council for supporting the making of this video. This gorgeous short film by Samuel Kostevc.⁠
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VD Scenes of Arad talking about his business inspiration, while making sweets in his kitchen, scenes of him talking to customers at Cygnet Market and at Salamanca Market

16/10/2025

Cleopatra's and Anthony's Feast that was held last Sunday 12th was a dream collaboration with Fenton Farmhouse, Egyptian Tummies and Sebastian Pasinetti from OKO Catering . These beautiful moments captured by Ghanem Irba.

Many thanks to those of you who came along, we know that with cozzy livs, it's getting harder to decide where to spend your $. Thanks for giving our Egyptian & Italian inspired dinner a chance - and what a feast that was - generous servings of polpette in rich tomato sauce (meatballs), Egyptian moussaka, caprese salad, koshary and konafa tiramisu. We're happy to say we can donate $170 each to Djirra Victoria nd PARA Foundation.

Swipe to the last pic for the very special birthday moment for Mr. H during our 7pm seating. He arrived in Narrm with his wife 18 months ago from Gz. We're so glad we were able to celebrate your birthday!! Moments like this are why we continue to hold Feast for Good series.

03/09/2025

There's something special about Sunday dinners that brings people together around the table – a moment to pause, reflect, and connect with our community.On the weekend, we witnessed this magic firsthand through an incredible culinary event at Manzé restaurant in North Melbourne that perfectly captures what Welcome Merchant is all about.

We celebrated the amazing Mama Verena from from Donde Mama and her Afro-Caribbean-Latin flavours that demonstrated how food can wash away barriers and replace them with understanding and connection.These collaborations on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri people remind us that when we come together over food, we create space for stories, cultures, and flavours to flourish. That's the power of a shared meal – and that's what we're proud to support every day.

08/07/2025

On June 24, we celebrated the re-launch of mahshid Babzartabi's second STOP, Next Chapter. ⁠Mahshid Babzartabi, a translator, cook and author, sought asylum in Australia after government censorship made her career untenable.⁠

⁠She left Iran as a refugee at age 52 and was then forced to undertake a perilous journey by boat. We got to hear her incredible life story at Hope St Radio in Collingwood Yards, thank you to the Hope St team for hosting us again. A big THANK YOU to the incredible Roj Amedi too, a fellow writer, editor and the chair of the Human Rights Film Festival. ⁠She also shared her experiences as a former refugee, and recounted an extraordinary act of kindness done by a stranger. ⁠

⁠Thank you to the attendees for joining us on a cold night, and for feasting on Chef Mahshid's incredible Persian spread. Swipe for the food pics! You can get a copy of STOP, Next Chapter from Amazon, it's currently sold-out at Dymocks.⁠⁠

Photos by Ghanem Irba

01/07/2025

Afghan women took the centre stage at our Celebrations on Friday 20th June, World Refugee Day, in Gadigal/Sydney. These 4 incredible women in the first & second pics, from L-R, Anjlla Seddeqi, Shabnam Safa, Zohal Azra and Zoe (Zaheda) Ghani, transformed the audience after the screening of The Staging Post documentary by Jolyon Hoff.

The Staging Post documentary follows the plight of 2 Afghan Hazara refugees, Muzafar Ali and Khadim, as they try to rebuild their lives for themselves and their community in Cisarua, Indonesia. The documentary was moving, but to the perspectives of these 4 women afterwards was nothing short of inspiring. We learnt about the many forms of resilience that can take - underground school for girls, speaking out, storytelling. We also learnt about the impact of years of waiting for resettlement that is happening to those stuck in limbo, especially the women. Thank you for sharing your insights and your time with us, Anjilla, Shabnam, Zohal and Zaheda. ⁠

⁠Thank you to the 120-strong audience who sold out this special event, we're sorry to those who missed out. Thank you to our event collaborator - Miya Miya Film Club to the venue, Mothership Studios & to Afghan Royal Restaurant for the delicious pre-screening feasting. Thanks to you all, we were also able to donate $510 to the Refugee Advice Casework Service.

See you all at the next , keep an eye on our our social media pages until then. ⁠

⁠Photos by Danish Ravi Photography

03/06/2025

👋🏽 New event alert!! / folks, we're excited to announce Welcome Merchant & Miya Miya Film Club presents: The Staging Post for World Refugee Day! Join us on Friday 20th June at Mothership Studios in Marrickville for an evening of film, delicious food, a hearty discussion and all-around good vibes.⁠
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The Staging Post is an hour-long documentary by Jolyon Hoff and it follows two Afghan Hazara refugees, Muzafar and Khadim. Stuck in Indonesia after Australia 'stopped the boats' and facing many years in limbo, they built a community and started the school which inspired a refugee education revolution. A real-life, real-time, multi-platform documentary. The Staging Post is about friendship, connection and the power of community.⁠ ⁠
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$25 covers your film ticket and it includes a $5 donation to the Refugee Advice Casework Service, they provide free legal advice to people seeking asylum based in Sydney. ⁠You can also buy a delicious Afghan meal before the documentary starts, courtesy of Afghan Royal Restaurant.
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Following the screening will be a 20-minute panel featuring Lida Mangal from Ghan Fashion and 2 more Afghan refugee advocates.⁠
⁠⁠Our event partners, Miya Miya Film Club, aims to showcase and provide a platform to tell SWANA (Southwest Asian and North African) stories on unceded Gadigal and Wangal land (Sydney). Miya Miya translates in Arabic to the 100 emoji, perfect, fantastic, 100/100. ⁠
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Big thanks to Navitas Skilled Futures for co-sponsoring this event too.⁠
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