Veil is a major international travelling exhibition and publication that brings together the work of over 20 contemporary artists of Muslim and non-Muslim backgrounds whose work examines the symbolic significance of the veil and veiling in contemporary art and culture.
Initiated by two visual artists Zineb Sedira and Janane Al-Ani, the project was organized by the Institute of International Visual Arts (IVA) in association with Modern Art Oxford. This is the first major project to address the subject of the veil in depth, with all its complexities and ambiguities, using visual art: Photography, video, mixed media and installation.
Little has been done in exploring the representation of the veil in historic and contemporary visual arts, yet no single item of clothing has had more influence on Western images of Middle Eastern and North African women.
In the aftermath of Sept. 11, the veil or Islamic scarf became emblematic of alien, terrifying and despised cultural and religious differences. Recent events in Europe have shown that the veil has become a symbol of Europe’s struggle to come in terms with cultural diversity and social inclusion. France voted, a couple of months back, a new law banning the wearing of conspicuous religious symbols in public schools.
In general terms, the veil has become a sign of backward and inferior societies. Zineb Sedira writes, “In our visually dominated culture, particular images of the veil have been deployed and replayed again and again. It has become a sign of the supposedly repressive Muslim World and implicit in that assumption is the superiority of the West.”
Indeed, the veil is practically the national symbol of Arab and Muslim societies.
The diversity and complexity of the veil is represented in this project through hybrid artworks. Veiling and unveiling is also examined from different perspectives: Aesthetic, social, cultural, political and historical.
The aesthetic value of the veil is manifest in Gaëtan de Clérambault’s work. Born in France in 1872 he trained as a psychiatrist, he was fascinated by the relationship between women and fabric. He followed his fascination by photographing veiled women in Morocco. He became increasingly obsessed by the drapes and forms created by the veil and the invisible gaze of veiled women. His photographs taken between 1918 and 1934, defy a straightforward Orientalist reading of the veil. They are more visual experiments in the human figure.
Iranian artist Kourush Adim’s black and white photographic landscapes by comparison appear monumental. He shows the veil as an integral part of the physical and psychological landscape.
In Iranian-born Ghazel’s series of video diaries, Me (1997-2000), the artist films herself enacting moments from her personal diary — skate-boarding, boxing, or sheltering during an air raid, with the veil. Shot in Iran, Paris, Montpellier and New York, the performances are full of irony and humour that highlight her position as an outsider both in the West and Iran. In Ghazel’s world, the veil is a feature of identity and of the everyday.
One of the most striking entries is Emily Jacir’s installation, From Paris to Riyadh, (Drawings for my Mother). The work is made up of numerous drawings on tracing paper, inspired by a memory from her childhood. Born in Riyadh of Palestinian parents, Jacir recalls her mother, on the airplane home to Saudi Arabia, inking out the uncovered arms and legs of the models in her fashion magazine. In her large-scale, black and white wall installation, the forms of female figures move across the expanse, their black limbs standing out in stark contrast to the field of white surrounding them.
Veil also addresses historical events and mainly the French occupier’s attempt to force Algerian women to unveil during the colonial struggle over Algeria. Two artists tackle this issue.
Marc Garanger demonstrates the process of unveiling rather than veiling in his disturbing portraits of Algerian women. A military photographer, he was ordered by his superiors to forcibly unveil Algerian women in order to take their photographs for identification purposes during the period of the Algerian War (1954-62). The photos of these women are full of violence and contempt: they experienced this “de-veiling” as being raped.
In Gilles Pontecorvo’s landmark film Battle of Algeria (1966), he presents veiling as a symbol of courage and as a tool of resistance deployed by Algerian women against their French colonial occupiers. In one scene, an Algerian woman conceals a gun beneath her clothes and then dresses to cover her body and face before passing through a French military checkpoint.
Over all, Veil presents a rich variety of artworks and plural viewpoints. A few main messages emerge though. On the whole, it confirms to the idea that the choice of veiling and unveiling cannot be compulsory or imposed: It has to be a personal choice dictated by conviction.
In a way, the veil empowers women because they can see without being seen which frustrates the outsider. In most cases it offers not only protection but also liberation largely because it removes women from male scrutiny.
It is noteworthy that the recent focus on the veil has diverted attention from the more pressing issues pertaining to the position of women in the society and her basic rights.
We need not to abandon our customs and hence our national identity and adopt those of the West to improve our status but learn to accept each other’s ways mutually.
In the current political situation, it is time to consider alternative approaches. Misconceptions can easily be corrected through culture. In the long run cultural initiatives can have a far-reaching impact on the public opinion, provide an understanding of the “other” and consequently defy the stereotypical visions and attitudes.
