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Wakili captures the protection of the Muslim hijab, as the Muslim woman is left to shop free from the stares of a man checking out a mini-skirt clad woman. |
Standing behind the podium at Sarah Lawrence College in New York last week, photographer Shekaiba Wakili seemed rather demure and subdued. She stood uneasy, with slightly sloped shoulders and straight black hair tucked behind her ears.
Even her clothes suggested a quiet, laid-back attitude: sober gray turtleneck sweater, black pants and black boots. No adornments save some beaded bracelets on both wrists. And when she spoke in fits and starts, it was not the voice of a polished speaker – though she's done this many times before.
But make no mistake…she is no shrinking violet. Wakili is as passionate about her photographs of Muslim women as she is about the politics of Afghanistan, her native country. Whether it is the Taliban's treatment of women, the effectiveness of the Northern Alliance, the politics of RAWA (Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan), or how it feels to wear a burqa, she's got an opinion on it all.
And above everything are her photos. They speak in a depth that pierces through the rhetoric of Afghani politics and history so hyped in these post-September 11th days. With exhibitions and speaking engagements sprouting all over New York City, the New York native is grabbing the gold ring offered to her by way of 9/11. But Wakili is winning the coveted prize of staying power in a fickle art world through her inspiring photos of Muslim women asserting their place in society.
Coming off an exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan, her latest show at Sarah Lawrence shows eight portraits of Afghani-Muslim women with and without the burqa. There's a feeling of strength and individuality in the photos exemplified by the lifting of the veil to show the honest women underneath – a portrait of a sound Muslim woman.
Each photo shows a woman from one of the four main ethnic groups of Afghanistan – Pashtun, Tajik (which is Wakili's background), Hazaras and Uzbek.
Some of the women in the photos are dark and others light in skin color. A few faces are lined while others are smooth and young. All are basically unadorned, eyes looking squarely into the camera in a sort of challenge to conformist views of Muslim women as background figures in the Islamic world.
The exhibit is her response to the Taliban being ousted – "lifting up the burqa to show your true self," Wakili says. But one can interpret various meanings from the photos based on individual backgrounds. A story in Women's Enews in January called the exhibit a "dramatic demonstration of the humanity the veil covers and the loss of identity that the act of veiling extracts." But veiling itself is not restrictive when it is a choice, Wakili says.
In fact the modest garb dictated by Islam can be a release, Wakili notes. It allows a woman to move freely through society. "She can be noticed for her words and intelligence and choose to remain quiet behind the protection of the veil. It can be quite liberating."
By conventional Islamic standards, Wakili is a set of contradictions. She speaks ardently about the beauty and protection Islam provides women but follows her own path of religious practice that may raise eyebrows for other Muslims. It's all personal choice, she says. She calls herself a feminist, but not a Western one.
"I would like to call Islam a feminist religion," Wakili told the small crowd at Sarah Lawrence. "Women's rights are given through marriage, divorce and property laws. And the biggest misconception is the dress. The emphasis is on modesty, not complete and absolute coverage.
"The Qu'ran gives [women] rights to freedom of education, freedom to live in society – the restriction comes through interpretation," she added. And interpretation was where the Taliban failed, Waliki says. Much of her talks focus on what Wakili deems gender apartheid in Afghanistan caused by the Taliban, which in turn was funded by a strong "ultra-conservative" sect of Muslims in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
Wakili can go on for any length of time about the atrocities perpetuated by the Taliban. She offers no end of examples ("It was a system of rape, abduction, forced marriage and human trafficking that lead to human genocide," she said.). She offers a powerful, absolute view on Afghan politics and history, beginning with the old kingdoms, through the Soviet invasion to the Taliban regime and finally where the country is today.
These views fuel her evocative photographs, born of a need to document the fluid yet commanding role of Muslim women in Afghanistan and society at large. Her photos speak volumes about the worth of Muslim women. For example, a series of photos in London shows Muslim women in hijab (modest covering) on the street partaking in the daily activities of work, school and shopping.
One of her favorite photographs in that series shows a woman in hijab window-shopping at a china shop. Beside her is the back view of an attractive woman in Western garb – shirt and short skirt. And there is a man checking her out while the Muslim woman enjoys her shopping without intrusive eyes upon her.
Another photo taken in front of Harrods department store shows a Muslim woman in a sophisticated pantsuit and hijab walking with determination and confidence. "She looks fabulous," Wakili says. "A modern Muslim woman – to be a part of society but not an issue. That was the pose I wanted."
Though Muslim women are now her focus, Wakili actually begin her career painting images of Arabesques designs of Turkish rugs and other Islamic motifs. She first moved to Long Island in 1980 where she was one of 4 or 5 foreign kids in her school. "At school the kids said I wasn't American, and at home my parents said I wasn't really acting like an Afghan." It was like living in a no man's land, she adds.
Wakili went on to the State University of New York, College at Westbury where she received her bachelor's degree in Visual Arts and American studies. But after growing tired of painting she moved to Manhattan and turned to photography with a focus on Afghanistan as a way of reclaiming her lost heritage.
She then went to the Teachers College at Columbia University where she received her Master of Arts Education. Wakili began teaching photography at a high school in Long Island while pursuing her photos of Muslim women. "I started focusing on what it means to be Muslim, to be a Muslim woman in America," she says."
She is now working on an exhibit focusing on the history of New York and Muslim women working in the city right now. "I'm looking for strong, confident women, women from many walks of life, many ethnicities, many professions. It's probably going to be a combination of documentary photography and social commentary," Waliki says.
She hopes to finish the exhibit by the summertime and have it go up in the fall. Wakili also plans to do a series with Afghan fashion designers focusing on the varied styles of Afghani dress for women and men.
Wakili had a few exhibits before the events of September 11th, but the world roused to her art in the days after. "9/11 put everything into perspective with my artwork," Waliki says. "I had been doing this for years, but people now are finally becoming aware."
And though she has been heavy on the talk circuit around New York (with Afghanistan as the hot topic), Waliki believes her art will stand the test of time. "We've heard everything we want to know about [Afghanistan], but there's so much more that goes beyond the words," she says. "So I photograph." |
