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Veil

© Zineb Sedira, 'Silent Sight' 2000, INPRO/TOR/VEI/6/5/14

Veil

Veil was a touring exhibition that toured in five different galleries throughout the UK and in Sweden through 2003 and 2004. The galleries were the New Art Gallery Walsall; The Bluecoat Gallery and Open Eye Gallery in Liverpool; Modern Art Oxford; and Kutlurhuset in Stockholm between 2003 and 2004.

 The exhibition explored the symbolic significance of the veil and veiling in contemporary art and culture, making it the first project of its kind to address the question of the veil in all its complexities and ambiguities from the vantage point of contemporary visual art practice.

Veil was co-curated by Zineb Sedira, Jananne Al-Ani, David A. Bailey and Gilane Tawadros. The artists that featured in the exhibition are Faisal Abdu’ Allah; Kourosh Adim; AES Group; Jananne Al-Ani; Ghada Amer; Farah Bajull; Samta Benhayia; Getan de Cerambault; Marc Garanger; Shadafarin Ghadirian; Ghazel; Emily Jacir; Sabah Moustafa Naiem; Shirin Neshat; Harold Offeh; Gillo Pontocorvo; Zineb Sedira; Ramesh Kalkur; Mitra Tabrizian; and Elin Strand. 

This research guide is a collation of resources related to the context and the theme of the exhibition that are housed in the Stuart Hall Library, and similar collections from other archive repositories. We welcome any recommendations of other resources to be added to this guide. To offer any please contact iniva's library and archive team. 

Stuart Hall Library Collection

These can be found in the Stuart Hall Library (and library catalogue) Links to the items in the library catalogue are included below

  1. Algeria Unveiled Algeria Unveiled' by Frantz Fanon in A Dying Colonialism (New York: Grove, Press, 1965) translated by Haakon Chevalier
  2.   Women and the Veil: Personal Responses to Global Processes Women and the Veil: Personal Responses to a Global Process' by Helen Watson in: Islam, Globalization and Postmodernity (London: Routledge, 1994) edited by Akbar S. Ahmed and Hastings Donnan. pp. 149-151.
  3. An Early Public Lecture on Women's Liberation An Early Public Lecture On Women’s Liberation' by Bahithat al-Badiya in: Women in Islam and the Middle East: A Reader (London: I.B Tauris & Co Ltd, 1999) edited by Ruth Roded. pp.213, 220-223.
  4. Women and the Veil Women and the Veil' by Qasim Amin in: The Liberation of Women The New Woman: Two Documents in the History of Egyptian Feminism (Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press, 1992) pp.35-61.
  5. Lifting the Veils  Lifting The Veils' by Judy Mabro in: Veiled Half Truths: Western Travellers’ Perceptions of Middle Eastern Women (London: I.B Tauris & Co Ltd, 1991) pp.64-97.
  6. The Discourse of the Veil The Discourse of the Veil' by Leila Ahmed in Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992) pp. 144-168.
  7. Home Works Home Works: A Forum on Cultural Practices in the Region Egypt, Iran, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria April 2 -7, 2002
  8. Orientalism Orientalism by Edward Said by Edward W Said (London: Penguin, 1995).
  9. Veil: Veiling, Representation and Contemporary Art
  10. The Filtered Self-Images of Women in Iran The Filtered Self Images of Women in Iran (London: Tart Gallery, 2000).
© AES+F, 'New Freedom' 2006, INPRO/TOR/VEI/6/5/17

Veil Research Material

This material sits within iniva's archive. The resources were used as research material for the exhibition and the accompanying publication. To request this material please contact the library and archive team.

  1. The Shadow Under the Web: Curator and art critic Francesco Bonami's text on artist Shirin Neshat's video installation 'the Shadow under the web' (1997)
  2. The Gun and the Gaze: Shirin Neshat's Photography: In this text, cultural critic and scholar of contemporary literature Hamid Dabashi explores Shirin Neshat's photographic work through a postcolonial lens. This text also forms a chapter in a collection of Dabashi's essays titled 'Contemporary Art, World Cinema, and Visual Culture' (Anthem Press, 2019).
  3. On Veiling, Vision and Voyage: Cross-cultural Dressing and Narratives of Identity:  by Reina Lewis in: Interventions: International Journal of Postcolonial Studies (London: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Ltd, 1999) Vol 1 No 4. pp. 504-505.
  4. A Veil of Controversy: The Construction of a ‘Tchador Affair’ in the French Press: by Diana R. Blank in: Interventions: International Journal of Postcolonial Studies (London: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Ltd, 1999) Vol 1 No 4. pp. 537
  5. The Hijab, the Veil: by Fatima Mernissi in: Women and Islam: An Historical and Theological Enquiry (Oxford, Basil Blackwell Ltd, 1991). pp.85, 93.  
  6. Feast of Unveiling, Feast of the Renaissance (1973): by Amina Said in: Opening the Gates: A Century of Arab Feminist Writing (Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1990) edited by Margot Badran and Miriam Cooke. pp. 359-362.
  7. Unveiling and Veiling: on the Liberation of the Woman and Social Renewal in the Islamic World (1928): by Nazira Zain al-Din in: Opening the Gates: A Century of Arab Feminist Writing (Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1990) edited by Margot Badran and Miriam Cooke. pp.272-276.
  8. Images of Women: Portrayal of Women in Photography of the Middle East 1860-1950: by Sarah Graham-Brown. in: Images of Women: Portrayals of Women in Photography of the Middle East 1860-1950 (London: Quartet Books, 1987) pp. 63, 76, 134-140.
  9. A Walled Society: by Farzaneh Milani in: Veils and Words: The Emerging Voices of Iranian Women Writers (London: I.B Tauris & Co Ltd, 1992) p.6-7
  10. The Concept of Veiling: by Farzaneh Milani in: Veils and Words: The Emerging Voices of Iranian Women Writers (London: I.B Tauris & Co Ltd, 1992) p.19-45.
  11. Ruth Trotter: Draped: Review of 'Ruth Trotter: Draped' by Virginia Rutledge in Art Papers Online Magazine (Los Angeles: California, 2001) pp.1-3. 
  12. History and the Real: Foucault with Lacan: by Charles Sheperdson in: Postmodern Culture (Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1995) Vol. 5 No. 2. pp.1-2.
  13. Women's Freedom: by Qasim Amin in The Liberation of Women and The New Woman: Two Documents in the History of Egyptian Feminism; translated by Samiha Sidhom Peterson ( Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2000). pp. 132-137 
© Samta Benyahia, 'Sans Titre' 2000, INPRO/TOR/VEI/6/5/20

Complimentary Archive Collections

This is a list of complimentary collections from other archive repositories

Bishopsgate Institute 

Stop the War Coalition STWC: Papers and material produced by Stop the War Coalition and various anti-war groups and organisations (1983-2015). Includes 

Feminist Library FL: Material created and collected by the Feminist Library, London regarding feminism and women's activism, women's community groups, protests and campaigns

British Humanist Association BHA: Archive of the British Humanist Association (1888 - 2007)

Morning Star Photographic Archive MS: The Morning Star is the oldest English language socialist newspaper in the world. The photographic archive is sectioned into regions including Britain, Asia and the Middle East, Africa, Americas, Australasia and Europe

'We Weren't Expecting to Stay EM: Digital materials created and collected by Everyday Muslim for the 'We Weren't Expecting to Stay and Other Stories' project, an exploration of the South Asian migration to London 1950-2014. The project sought to document the presence of Muslims in the UK, (2014).

Goldsmiths Archive and Special Collections

Women's Art Library WAL: The Women's Art Library began in 1976 when a small group of women artists began to collect slides from other women artists to establish a record of their work. The Library first opened its collection to the public in 1982 as the Women Artists Slide Library during the 'Women Festivities' held in London.

London Metropolitan Archives

Muslim Women's Helpline LMA/4496: Records of the Muslim Women's Helpline. It was established in 1987 in response to the numerous difficulties faced by Muslim women living in the UK.