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"Genitilla al
Wilada" by Italian artist Maimouna Guerressi/credit:Maimouna Guerressi
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I recently wrote a
piece on the wonderful Muslima exhibition for the Guardian, but it got cut in
half to fit the allocated space. This is frustrating as the artists and activists I've interviewed had so much to say. So here is the whole story with the women's quotes and ideas in their entirety. I am also including links to some of their artwork. I hope you'll like it!
"The only
woman it seems permissible to judge today and even at times ridicule, is the
Muslim woman. What other woman faces as much scrutiny or is the target of
random violence from both her own community and others?" asks Samina Ali. An
Indian-born Muslim who lives in San Francisco, Ali is the curator of
"Muslima: Muslim Women’s Art & Voices", a new global,
online exhibition exploring what it means to be a Muslim woman today, and in
the process, trying to shatter prejudice and build understanding.
"The impression many
have of Muslim women is that they have no voice, no freedom -- not even a face
because they move around behind burkhas! Even if a woman chooses just a head
scarf, there's fear and misunderstanding about the veil and what it means
to individual Muslim women to wear or not to wear the veil," says Ali,
also a novelist and co-founder of Daughters of Hajar, an American-Muslim
feminist organization. "We wanted to help reverse the stereotypes
and the best way to do that seemed to present Muslim women speaking to the
complex realities of their own lives, through interviews and art."
The exhibition, recently
launched by the International Museum of Women (IMOW) - an online social action
museum promoting women's issues globally - brings together under one platform
the voices, stories and work of hundreds of very different Muslim women from
all over the world.
The name
"Muslima", which can refer to an ultra-religious woman as well as
anyone who advances good in the world, was chosen to reflect the wide breath of
views, attitudes, values and realities represented in the exhibition.
"There's a great diversity in the way Muslim women express
themselves, whether through their art, clothing, values, attitudes or their
understanding of their faith. It was important to capture that diversity in
this exhibition. Not only does that diversity counter stereotypes many in the
West have about Muslim women, but also, and equally as important, it counters
the dominant narrative that some Muslims hold about their own communities: that
all women must behave and look a certain way. It benefits both communities to
see the reality," Ali says.
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| From Iranian artist
Shadi Ghadirian's series "Nil, Nil"/credit:
Shadi Ghadirian
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The exhibition, organized
by topics (faith, change, power, myths and more), regions or types (interviews,
art or stories) features exclusive interviews with leading Muslim women
leaders, such as Dr. Shirin Ebadi from Iran, the first Muslim woman to win a
Nobel Peace Prize; Fahima Hashim, a leading women's rights advocate in Sudan;
and Fawzia Koofi, who will be running for President of Afghanistan in 2014.
It also showcases
world-renowned artists like Palestinian Laila Shawa, Algerian Houria Niati and
Yemeni photographer Boushra Almutawakel, as well as emerging voices from the
next generation, such as Rajae El Mouhandiz, a Dutch singer from North
African descent who is leading the movement for Muslim women's representation
in pop culture.
And there are also the
wonderful "Muslima Stories", multi-media mini-memoirs in which
ordinary Muslim women depict what it is to be a Muslim today. Viewers can leave
comments after each art piece or interview, thus engaging in an international
dialogue.
"I wanted to
participate in Muslima because I wanted to contribute to the effort of
demystifying the term. For me, Muslima is a woman from a Muslim background.
It is more about culture than religion," says Algerian artist
Houria Niati. For the exhibition, she has chosen "What If", a mixed media series in which she superposed the face of a young
modern Algerian woman onto pictures of Algerian women in traditional costumes
taken during the French colonial rule. "The exhibition is full of
hope. It brings all our diversities together, so we can join forces and fight
for equality and freedom from wherever we are," Niati adds.
"I usually
prefer not to be associated with gender or religion or anything else in my
career, but anything to help alter the perception of Muslim women is good. And
art can cross borders," says Palestinian artist Laila Shawa whose powerful
work "Target Wall of Gaza 1," depicting a little boy planted as a
target against a wall covered in graffiti, is included in the exhibition.
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"Target Wall of
Gaza 1," by Palestinian artist Laila Shawa/credit:Laila Shawa |
Like, Shawa, many
women participating in Muslima believe the artistic space is a better platform
for discussing issues associated with gender and religion than the political
arena.
"I love this
project because it is not selling one Muslim interpretation, but amplifies
voices from several generations, cultural contexts and interpretations,"
says the young singer and artist Rajae El Mouhandiz. "Producing
work and being owners of our own stories help us in the long term to respond to
ignorance. But it also helps us to share the beauty, the diversity and
the complexity of life and our individual interpretations of what religion and
freedom and citizenship mean to us in this global community."
El Mouhandiz also
wanted to take part in Muslima to share her experience as a young female Muslim
artist in Europe. She says she not only faces racism in the Netherlands for
being a Muslim, but also discrimination from within the Muslim community for
being a singer who doesn't wear the hijab and is "too sexy."
Like El Mouhandiz,
many women featured in Muslima believe that change has to come from the
outside world - which needs to shift its perception of Muslim women - but also
from within the Islamic framework, says Ali, the curator. "The
refrain I hear again and again from the contributors is that Islam is not the
problem. Islam grants women rights that are then taken away from them by
politics, power, patriarchy, tradition, and even fanatical readings of the
religion. In fact, the irony seems to be that women living in the 7th century
when Islam was founded had more rights than some women living in a few select
Muslim countries today. For example, does Islam say a woman can't drive?
Absolutely not. Didn't the Prophet's own wife, Aisha, move about on a camel --
and wasn't the camel that day's car?
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An excerpt from
Tamadher al Fahal's 'zine, "Diary of a Mad Arabian Woman"/Credit:
Tamadher al Fahal
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“And
outside of the law, people’s own ways of thinking need to change. Some Muslims
seem unable to live and embrace the rich diversity within the Muslim
communities. Instead, Sunnis kill Shias and vice versa. Or Muslims from the
Middle East think they're more authentic than Muslims from India and vice
versa. This issue of authenticity makes it so that many Muslims feel unwelcome
in their own Muslim communities. ‘Maybe I'm too americanised to be considered
Muslim?’ ‘If I don't cover, they'll say I'm not Muslim." That needs to change.’
To the outside world, to
those who “still think a Muslima is a sad oppressed woman who is part of harem,
has no opinion or rights and basically is a house slave," El Mouhandiz has
this word of advice: "Turn off your TVs and go online to see
the Muslima exhibition and meet all these amazing women and their work. They
will blow your mind with their leadership, grace and talent!"
