"This is Just a Piece of Cloth" was shown at A Collection of Dangerous ideas, as part of the Festival of Dangerous Ideas.
The exhibtion had paintings, protest art, ceramics, photography, cartoons, video, and textile art.. All peices of work aimed to challenge the status quo of how we see the world, and therefore be perceived as a Dangerous Idea, an idea that speaks out, away from the norm.
http://dangerousideas.org.uk/index.php/sessions/exhibition
Did you think any differently about the six different version's of Raisa here?
Dress can be important visual markers in building up a picture of a person, definitely. It is indeed a projection of ones self. But subconsciously or not, and whether we like it or not. We do project an image to the world, and the world judges you in 3seconds based upon your dress and demeanour. Clothing conveys several markers, ethnicity being potentially one of them. I'm trying to examine the perception of how people see brown bodies in relation to South Asian ethnic clothing. Is there an instant response to how the brown female is perceived and seen when wearing different codes of dress, traditional, western, religious, forward, exotic.. etc...
What do you think the six different Raisa's clothing, say about them?
Perhaps you can glean, ethnicity or culture, or religion, or perhaps none at all. How about class or education? Did you assume anything about any of them, without even thinking? Maybe you thought entirely differently?
#brainspinner
Two pieces of work, that I've been working on to accompany my essay. These two Niqab will be worked on with extra drawings, and when more women will become involved, I will start work on further Niqab pieces. The actual textile pieces were exhibited, along with these photographs at the multimedia event, Mutiny for 'Violence on Trial' at the Resistance Gallery in Bethnal Green.
In this piece of work - Niqab: Just a Piece of Cloth, the artist has asked Muslim women who wear the niqab, what the veil means to them; regarding dress, identity, and their faith. The installation is meant to challenge the harmful attitude that Muslim women who adopt the niqab are forced by others to do so, and are in need of protection. It aims to voice women's words on their own valid decisions to wear this controversial item of clothing.
“Muslim women were portrayed as oppressed, abused, uneducated, powerless and far most dehumanized, because of Islam and its teachings, but anyone who understands the true teachings of Islam would understand the status that Muslim women are given in Islam. The point I wanted to make was the fact I lived in a so called democratic country, where I was given the freedom to address others anyway that I wanted, and I chose to wear the niqab.” Ardo, Ottowa
In response to the new legislation coming into force in France, against wearing the Niqab or Burqa in public areas, there has been a rise in islamophobia and an attitude of violence towards Muslim women, and not only in France, but increasingly a backlash is emerging in other parts of the western world, as more and more politicians are using the image of head covering as a threat to civil rights, and are encouraging fear of and suspicion of Muslims. Because women who cover, are easily identifiable, it makes them a target for abuse. And suddenly it becomes not just about freedom of religion, or dress codes, but about gender.
I want to challenge people's perceptions of covering, because if we have the liberty to show flesh and skin, we should have the liberty to cover up too. Religious or not, it is a form of identity, a form of dress, and a personal choice of modesty. I ideally would like to deconstruct the deeper meanings, and bring head covering back to being just a part of dress, just a scarf.
This idea of women having control over their own bodies, is still a battle, and I really want to create some work that says, I'm making a choice about covering, and I'm making an informed and educated choice, and I am free to wear what I wish; look beyond the scarf.
Pop Up research.
These photographs were taken in February 2007 in Bangladesh, a visit which took me to meet my Grandmother who I hadn't seen for thirteen years. She sadly passed away last week. These photographs - they are many more - were taken on a Zenith TTL SLR camera with 35mm film. These photographs have not been edited, and the colours that are captured in the bengali light are truly spectacular.
Rough guide final image. Hand stitched lips, machine stitched buttons and lace collar. Strips of acetate.
(70 Pages created for a single page in 70 books made)
All images by Raisa Kabir
A response to the harsh conditions and low paid manual work of textiles workers in South East Asia. More than often the clothes we buy are the livelihoods of thousands of people, their blood, their sweat, their skin.