by Samia Sultagi
Investigating Images
At the world renown and must-see 2013 Venice Biennale indicative of global themes and interests in the world of art, is the collection of photographs by an emerging female Bahrainian artist entitled 'A Villager's Day Out'. The colorful, scenic, and creative images with an underlying sense of cynicism. The pictures document women wearing a black abaya touring the big city of Manama in Bahrain; allowing for cultural discourse within the vibrant snapshots. The backdrop of playful colors and urban settings concurrently integrate and disconnect the abaya/hijab. The artist demonstrates a clear knowledge of know how to apply the lens rendering the printed image with a unique sense of humor, color, and composition as she creates a verbal dialogue through imagery. The audience can decide the extent of such the visual meaning which is what makes the collection a success. The collection does not have to be interpreted on an intellectual, political nor social basis, it can literally be about pretty-ness, plain and simple.
On an emotional perspective, the outing seems
colorfully dispiriting as the girls are illustrated in isolation and solitude; the veiled female is
both connected and disconnected with the environment around her. The taboo of the hijab is presented
differently than the typical outlook on the veil. The discourse bring the conflict between tradition and
modernization and the identity of women within it to lighty; women in limbo between two worlds: tradition VS modernism. The black silhouette is given a
sense of identity by objects and space: woman with balloons, woman next to
colored wall, woman in tunnel, woman on the seaside… The abaya in
Bahrain is ambiguously and indeterminately able to associate with the city, the
contemporary global lifestyle.
A Type of Feminist
Intervention
If the images are to be read as a type of feminist identity in the Muslim world, Waheeda’s interpretation is not aggressive. The fact that the artist is a muhajabeh Muslim Arab can also alter judgement, making the pictures appear less hostile and more forthcoming. Her so-called 'bias' positioning can both connect physically and ideologically to the world she chooses to dialogue with. If the artist was, for instance, a non-Muslim European, the discourse could be translated differently. The abaya and hijab are a part of a tense discussion that leans towards taboo than acceptance.
If we look to famous female and feminist art historians, such as Griselda Pollock, author of Vision and Difference, they would encourage the reading of the images as a type of artistic intervention into the social-political environment requesting a new form of dialogue between the traditional representation of feminine and the new ideologies in which Arab women define themselves. Waheeda, it would seem includes economic concerns to the mix. Bahrain is developing due to economic transformations which by default the 'progress' becomes more and more identified with Western ideologies. The big city is not a random background to the village girl but selected with a conscious intention, a conscious friction. The artist’s images are a type of moment of reflection that ask the viewer to consider how the global world alters the conditions of Mulsim women.
Though current articles about Arab women and the hijab have become more and more common as westerners explore the female conditions in the Muslim world; they either chose to understand the circumstances that have led to the veiling, whether agreeable or not, or reject the condition as a male empowerment and female deprivation. Their opinions tend to be fed by cultural prejudices or misguided references which in itself establish a confused conclusion on the veil perception.
There are those, like Mariam Williams author of ‘Veiled Meanings’ in National Catholic Reporter: Women Today, who choose to understand the ideology of veiled Muslim women in America and their practice as a reflection of feminism. According to Williams, there are women in America who consciously choice to wear the veil has proven to be a form of female empowerment, even within Western culture. Stewart Motha’s article ‘Veiled Women and the Affect of Religion in Democracy’ discusses how the hijab troubled feminism and secularism in Europe. Motha presents the different socio-political reactions governments and institutions have responded to the veil. The articles, if anything, affirm the different views of what the veil represents to western women and the interpretation of what it means to feminism.
Initiatives by women from the same context and milieu make the topic easier to tolerate, receive, and recognize; and maybe create a platform a more publically accessible debate. How will traditional women integrate into a modernizing Arab world? How will they have to, if actually necessary, transform in order to conform to the new identity? Will the new socio-economic changes adapt to them? Waheeda successfully puts into question the role and identity of women of religion and faith in the new global condition.
About Waheeda:
Waheeda Malullah creatively and conceptually plays with video, photography, installation and performance in her desire to explore issues of gender and tradition that at times brings her own identity into question. She can even be depicted in her own work. Waheeda was born 1978, lives and works in Bahrain. She studied Advertising and Marketing at the Riam Institute in Bahrain and currently works as graphic designer at Bahrain University. Her work is supported by Al Riwaq Art Space. She has participated in many local and international exhibitions; and her work can be found in the collections of the Institut du Monde Arabe and the British Museum. She is considered to be one of Bahrain's up and coming young artists setting a new stage for the country's contemporary art scene.
Bibliography:
- 'Bahrain Participates in the Venice Biennale for the first time this June' in artBahrain (website). http://artbahrain.org/web/?p=4649 [last accessed at 17:00 on 24/10/2013]
- Delfina Foundation (website). http://delfinafoundation.com/in-residence/waheeda-malullah/tag/past/filter/practice_photography/ [last accessed at 18:58 on 24/10/2013]
- Minimalist, the. 'An archive of inspiration, negotiating the world through artistic intervention' in 5 Cents a Pound (online). http://5centsapound.tumblr.com/post/53128821734/waheeda-malullah-a-villagers-day-out-a [last accessed at 19:04 on 24/10/2013]
- Picone, Gabriella. 'In Anticipation of Missing Something: the Pavilions of Angola, Bahrain and the Holy See' in ArtSlant (online). http://www.artslant.com/ew/articles/show/36221 [last accessed at 19:08 on 24/10/2013]
- Sand, Olivia. 'Venice Biennale 2013' in Asian Art Newspaper (online). http://www.asianartnewspaper.com/article/venice-biennale-2013 [last accessed at 19:10 on 24/10/2013]
- Smith, Silvia. 'Venice Biennale hosts largest ever Arab presence' in BBC (online). http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-23664730 [last accessed at 19:07 on 24/10/2013]
- 'Waheeda Maloullah' in ISCP (online).
- http://www.iscp-nyc.org/artists/alumni-profiles/1101/1158.html [last accessed at 19:06 on 24/10/2013]
No comments:
Post a Comment