Recently the Guardian featured an interesting collection of photos by Yemeni photographer Boushma Almutawakel, of a mother, daughter and doll in stages of Hijab, going from coloured 'western' clothing to full body covering, including the doll. Looking her up on the net, I see this is only one of several projects she has been produced concerning hijab, which include 'What if' where a woman's full cover is gradually passed to the accompanying man; another involving Barbie and Ken dolls; and another using flags instead of the black fabric. While studying in the United States, Boushma was inspired by the Eqyptian writer Nawal al Saadawi, who I saw giving a talk while at University - probably the only standing ovation I witnessed at Uni. She was interested by Saadawi's views concerning freedom of dress codes, which are more complicated than just saying that western women are the ones who have choice, and Boushma experiments with the different attitudes concerning the nuances of covering in these photos.
No comments:
Post a Comment