Taking a poetic and somewhat circuitous approach to a topical and sometimes controversial subject, artist Victoria Cattoni in her photo media installation, What if I want to water ski? And other questions, invites audience to unveil their perceptions of the Muslim headscarf for women. This exhibition is from a broader project, ‘Re-Dressing the Veil’, that was begun in 2007. It represents Cattoni’s ongoing exploration of cross-cultural experience, taking us on a journey between Singapore, Penang and North-eastern Australia via the text and fabric of the hijab, or tudung as it is locally known. - Click Image to Visit VictoriaCattoni.net

By P Marilyn

A photography exhibition dubbed ‘What if I want to water ski? And other questions’ is currently held at the Sheraton Utama Hotel in the capital, showcasing photographic works of women in hijab’ or locally known as `tudong’.

The exhibition opened yesterday was attended by foreign dignitaries and invited distinguished guests.

Also present were the Minister of Energy, Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Dewa Major General (Rtd) Dato Seri Pahlawan Awg Hj Mohammad bin Hj Daud and the Australian High Commissioner to Brunei, Mr Mark Sawers.
In his welcoming address, Mr Sawers said such an exhibition is held as part of Australia’s desire to promote understanding between all religious communities.

He touched on the dangers of stereotyping, of which the Australian government is keenly aware of and recognises that the key way to tackle it is to expose people to experiences to help them identify their own stereotypes and to explore why they rely on them.

The exhibition, he said, shows how personal the tudong can be and celebrates it through beautiful images. It also documents the process of non-Muslim women exploring it more personally with the goal of understanding what it means for Muslim women.

Taken by Australian artist, Victoria Cattoni, the photographic portraits document a cross-section of types of tudong, offering personal depictions of Muslim women in headscarves.

About 70 women had their portraits taken in their own homes or work places to ensure maximum comfort for them and to provide the space for a more personal conversation.

The theme of the exhibition not only poses as a rhetorical question but suggests the genuine curiosity of a woman who is asking a practical question, a woman who would not normally wear a hijab’, a Muslim headscarf.

This is where the artist, Victoria Cattoni, beckons members of the public to unveil their perceptions of it through her display of artwork.

The images of Muslim women presented here, can hopefully challenge the dominant representations and widen the portrayal of Muslim women and in doing so, potentially avoid the often ‘controversial’ nature of much discourse around the headscarf.

The exhibition also features video presentations of non-Muslim women exploring how they feel when they wear the headscarf, depicting their reactions in very different ways.

It was edited from an interactive workshop run in Singapore in 2008 where women who usually didn’t wear headscarves were invited to try it on. The nature of the performative workshop allowed the women to explore how they saw themselves when wearing the headscarf and in this reflective process, they began to unveil their own perception of Muslim women in `hijab’ within a safe and open dialogue in which Muslim women were also present.

The photography exhibition is from an on-going project ‘Redressing the Veil’ that began in 2007 in Penang, Malaysia and has continued in Australia (Cairns and Mareeba) and Singapore. The selection of work being presented here comprises collections of work from the exhibition currently being presented in Singapore at The Substation.

The exhibition is hosted by the Australian High Commission in Brunei, with the help of sponsors – Sheraton Utama Hotel, Takaful IBB Berhad Islamic Insurance and Ezy Printers – with assistance from RBA. The exhibition will continue at Dar Takaful IBB Utama from June 24 to 29.

Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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