BY NOURHAN MANSOUR
This project
has easily been, one of the very few university projects that have interested
me. This is because, for as long as I can remember peace and Islam have been
seen as a controversy, due to recent events. So naturally, I jumped at the
chance to express myself and my thoughts towards Islam, in the only way I knew
how. Through art! However, it isn’t only because I am a Muslim that I feel this
strongly towards this subject, but because I hit the three most talked about,
hated, discussed, and stereotyped races of all time. Arab, Muslim, Woman … The
worst part is, it’s not just me, there are millions of people in the world that
feel the same way I do, whether it’s my best friend, for being a Black, Arab,
Muslim woman, or a poor working Muslim woman, trying to earn her rights and pay
her bills.
I immediately
knew what I wanted to express, the moment I was told I had to choose a topic. I
wanted to deconstruct stereotypes of women in Islam, and if I made this my
life’s mission, I will never fully deconstruct every single stereotype, because
of how many there are. However, one sub-topic, has recently stood out more to
me than the rest, because this was something that has affected me personally,
and not only affected me in my personal life, it has affected me in my work as
a student, my vision as a creative individual, and my life as a woman.
Description of
my art work:
Title: “Keset
Hayaty El Gdeeda” which translated means, my new life story
Medium used:
Photography & Painting
Dimensions: Each
picture is A3. 891mm x 1260mm (89.1cm x 126cm)
I took 3
different photographs, of my sister, in which she resembles 3 different women.
I made sure all 3 pictures are exactly the same, in terms of makeup and
lighting, and focused on dark makeup on her eyes and eyebrows, for a deeper
intensity. The first picture depicts my sister with her long flowy hair, dark
makeup, and a black turtle neck, the second picture, I put her in traditional
hijab/veil, with exactly the same setting, and the third and last picture, she
was in Niqab.
My initial
plan, was to paint 3 pictures of different women in the same way that are tied
up with ropes, to show their distress. However, I realized, that to really
express what I am trying to say, I would need to get someone in the same
position I am in, and who better than my sister. So, I decided to take the
pictures and paint them later on, but I faced another problem, trying to show
her emotions exactly through drawing. And so finally, I decided I would use the
three photograph as they are, with every detail perfectly shown, and too later
sketch out and paint on the ropes, on the printed photographs.
My original
influence, came from an artist I stumbled upon on Facebook, her name is Mona
Ragab, and she is a university student in Egypt, (fine arts). Her picture was so
inspiring, and made me really think, about what it’s like for women in
countries like Egypt, who basically have no right at all. I complain about some
of my rights here, but living in Egypt, or any of the other Middle Eastern
countries, is much worse than modern Dubai. This is the original photo:
However, after
much thought, especially with recent events, I was a bit annoyed, at the order
of the photo. I am not veiled, so I am considered to be in the same category of
the last picture on the right, but this isn’t how I view our society. Taking in
consideration, that she lives in Egypt, and is veiled, I can understand what
she was trying to portray. Her message, was that women in Niqab, are tied down
by society, the veiled women is not as tied down, but still has major
restrictions, whereas, women who are not veiled, have no restrictions
whatsoever, as shown by the painting. I honestly don’t think, I would have
given this painting too much thought, if I saw it 4 years ago, because it wouldn’t
have dawned on me that non veiled women could be judged to a level that I have
witnessed. The other picture that put most of my thoughts in perspective was
this one down below:
I also stumbled
upon this picture, on Facebook as well, posted along with a small Arabic poem.
I have tried over, and over again, to find the reference for this picture, but
sadly had no luck. I would love to meet the person behind this idea, because
whoever they are, they managed to explain the story of my life, in just one
picture. Looking at both the photograph, and the painting above together,
changed everything for me, and allowed everything to fall in to motion. It
really deconstructs a lot of stereotypes in just one photo, and moreover, shows
a perfect example of “don’t judge a book by its cover”
A photographer
named Sebastian Farmborough, once shot a picture of a niqabi veiled woman
coming out the sea, here in Dubai. The girl was an Afghani friend of mine, and
was very keen on being able to take photos like this especially because of her
background. Sebastian, was born in the UK, and lived for 3 years in Saudi
Arabia, and then moved to Dubai, after his short time in the Middles East, he
started a theme of photos that he called “An Emerging Mystery” in which he shot
niqabi veiled women in settings, they would not usually be seen in. He did
this, to prove that Islam, and women in Islam, are severely understood, and he
wanted to change that.
His photos, are
also one of the main reason I tried to see Mona’s painting in a different way.
I was mostly peeved that only niqabi veiled women are depicted as judged upon,
or oppressed, or have no rights in society and media.
The statement
that I tried to make, with my art project, was complicated at first, especially
when I was trying to put all my ideas in one picture, but once it came together
it made sense. I wanted people to understand, that yes Islam promotes, modest
clothing, and a modest way of dressing but many see it through a certain lenses
of veils, and covering one’s self up completely. But, that doesn’t mean, that
non veiled women are bad Muslims. Yes, I am not as oppressed in society, like a
woman wearing Hijab, or Niqab. Yes, I can sometimes obtain better jobs. Yes, I
am allowed in more areas across the world than them. Yes, outside the Middle
East, I am accepted in a way that they aren’t. And that’s where the problem
starts, Egypt is my home, my country, no matter what, and the fact is, I am not
accepted there as the normal deviation of a “good modern Muslim woman”
The sad fact
is, you take one look at me, and judge me on my unveiled hair, my skinny jeans,
my makeup, and the fact that I do whatever I want. You take another look at
veiled woman, and think one thing, “what great faith!” This obviously changed
within different societies, and different places throughout the world, but for
sake of argument, I am speaking from the Middle East’s point of view. I
initially wanted to create ropes, on the picture of my non veiled sister only,
and leave the other two pictures plain, but when I started thinking, I realized
it’s not fair either. So, for this project, I will create most of the ropes on
the picture without a veil, and for the other two, I will also add ropes, but
not as much as the first picture. I am basically doing the opposite of Mona
Ragab’s painting.
As, I am
writing this, I am sitting here listening, to Um Kalthoum, and something hit
me, and so I did some research. How is it that no one ever judged um Kalthoum,
on her unveiled self? I called my grandmother and asked her what it was like
around the time she was growing up in the situation of Hijab, and she said: “It
was very rare to see someone in Hijab, and all the women were free to wear and
do whatever they want.” She also mentioned that the Sheikhs wife’s in the Azhar
were not veiled, and that was seen as the norm at the time. So forget my
message and my statement. I have a question, what changed? It was okay before,
why did that change? And how?
When my mother
got married, she wasn’t in Hijab, but shortly after she became veiled, and 18
years later took it off … This obviously was a big problem for our family back
home, and for her, because people started judging her the moment they found out
she used to be veiled. But what changed? Noting … she still wears the same
exact clothes, and acts the same exact way, could the fact that she exposed her
hair make her a terrible Muslim?
I am recently
to get engaged, and as an Egyptian woman, obviously went through the normal
traditions and cultures, of getting engaged. I fell in love with a man, who has
been my best friend for many years, and I thought I knew everything about him,
but I was wrong. I have learned, the hard way that no matter how open minded, or
culturally aware a person is, their family isn’t always the same. I was wrong
to make that assumption, and I didn’t try to judge them from what I have
heard. The first thing, my significant
other’s family asked about me was “does she wear Hijab?” I am not going to
comment, and I won’t dare justify it, but can you explain to me what does that
mean? The moment, I understood his family, I started thinking, “does his family
even have his best interest?” if all they want is a veiled woman, then what
does that say? About him? What does that
say about me?
Can a veil
draped across my hair really justify what kind of a person I am?
Does a veil
tell you if I Pray or not?
Does a veil
tell you if I mean well or not?
What does a
veil say?
I suffered from
traction alopecia, and what that is, is a lot of hair loss everywhere, even
though I was one of the lucky ones, it affected me, in immense ways. It
affected my hair, my confidence, my way of thinking, and had an impact on the
person I am today. Because of alopecia, I resorted to wearing wigs, and the
only thing I could think of when his mother asked him about the veil, was
“welllllllll, I don’t show my hair” and I laughed, and laughed, and laughed,
and that’s because , that is the only way I could have possible dealt with it. As
you can tell, this description, ended with a lot of question marks, and I think
that is a great symbol of how I feel at the moment, total and utter confusion.
The reason, I
have held off on drawing in the ropes until now, is because drawing them on an
actual photograph, can mean like they aren’t actually there, it can show that
maybe I am the only one that see them there. And at this moment of time, I am
not 100% sure yet.
I have always
strongly believed, in the spirituality of Islam, and I might not be the symbol
of a good Muslim, but that’s between me, myself, and Allah.
Sources:
