Women Artists From the Islamic World Change Our Visions

Queen Rania spoke at Yale University September 22, 2009, addressing the Israeli/Palestinian conflict (see entire video) and joining Yale President Richard C. levin in announcing the Creation of the Queen Rania Fellowship for the Study of the Contemporary Middle East.

Our Smart Pants Queen Rania was also at Yale to opening the touring exhibit “Breaking the Veils: Women Artists in the Islamic World.”

The show was conceived by Princess Wijdan Al Hashemi and her friend Aliki Moschis-Gauguet, who took issue with post Sept. 11 depictions of women in the Islamic world, typically shown as veiled figures who are oppressed by their cultures, according to the two women.

Moschis-Gauget said, “‘Do you see what’s going on in the media? … Muslim women are being portrayed as women living behind long veils,”’ said Al Hashemi, founder and director of the Royal Society of Fine Arts of Jordan. “She couldn’t stand the way Muslim and Arab women were being portrayed.” via CBS News

Al Hashemi and Moschis-Gauguet, president of the Pan-Mediterranean Women Artists Network turned to the art world, specifically works by 52 femasle artists from 21 Islamic countries, encompassing women who are Muslim but also Buddhist, Christian and Hindu.

When the show speaks of the Islamic World, the context is cultural and not religious. In its attempt to communicate the Islam world as a cultural capital, artists to depict humans.

“The presentation of human images in Islam is only prohibited in mosques and places of worship to keep the Muslims from going back to worshipping idols,” Al Hashemi said, calls the opposition to depictions of human figures an “extreme interpretation” to the Quran’s strict opposition to idolatry.

Art in “Breaking the Veils: Women Artists in the Islamic World.” touches on the political issues facing Islamic countries.

‘Amended Resolutions i’ by Laila Shawa Laila Shawa a Palestinian artist living in London, represents the conflict between Israel and Palestinians in her silkscreen on paper works. “Amended Resolutions 1,” superimposes a United Nations resolution that established a special committee to investigate Israeli practices in occupied territories with the image of rubble, possibly a destroyed home.

Womanly art can be reflective, highly personal and intimate.

Turmoil by Nawal AbdullahThe sensuality of Nawal Abdullah’s paintings advance her goal of bridging a gap between the cultures. A woman artist living in Queen Rania’s Aman, Jordan Abdullah says: “Art for me is my language. It’s a means for a need to communicate the true feelings. I hope that people will understand me and they will all feel the same language.”

Follow this link to view the full collection featured in “Breaking the Veils: Women Artists in the Islamic World.” Anne