I am personally against veil wearing for Muslim women who live in the West. But I am also against the degradation of the dress code in western society. Little girls dressed like their moms and mothers dressed like their teenage daughters. I am also against an official ban on the veil except in places where all religious signs are forbidden by law.
I contemplate some European countries' recent moves to ban the veil in the name of integration as being as much a provocation as the wearing of the veil is a sign of defiance of western culture from some Muslim women who live in the west.
I contemplate also the recent swedish stamp with two women wearing a veil and one other unveiled women with her child and the accompanying text :
''The pictures in the issue do not show the traditional view of a person’s interaction with pristine nature. Irina Gebuhr has instead chosen to highlight the relationships between the people depicted on the stamps. For example, a group of immigrant women who are talking with one another and looking out over a lake are shown on the picnic motif. At the stamp’s top corner an elk appears, which for many is the very symbol of Swedish nature. It depicts a meeting in nature, but also a dialogue between cultures.
Summer by the Lake are Irina Gebuhr’s first stamps. "I could never have imagined being given such an assignment, but as a person who works with images I have studied many stamps, looking at their colors and designs and wondering about the small format," says Irina. She adds, "There is a great difference between working on a well-defined stamp assignment and having artistic freedom in the studio. In the studio I have more freedom to let indistinct, irrational and mysterious emotions shine through and affect the creative process. Having said that, I cannot deny that some of this natural flow has also spilled over into the motifs for Summer by the Lake."
Summer by the Lake are Irina Gebuhr’s first stamps. "I could never have imagined being given such an assignment, but as a person who works with images I have studied many stamps, looking at their colors and designs and wondering about the small format," says Irina. She adds, "There is a great difference between working on a well-defined stamp assignment and having artistic freedom in the studio. In the studio I have more freedom to let indistinct, irrational and mysterious emotions shine through and affect the creative process. Having said that, I cannot deny that some of this natural flow has also spilled over into the motifs for Summer by the Lake."
I can't imagine any other western country taking this courageous initiative. Yes, Tolerance requires courage, courage to let artists speak and positive emotions flow to connect us with others, courage to not delve into prejudice, confrontation and the demonisation of the other.
Hat tip: Blogger Shaykhspeara Sha'ira at Al-Baal Café
UPDATE: Read what Ken Livingstone, London's Mayor, has to say and what he will do in regard to the recent veil controversy in the UK.
UPDATE: Read what Ken Livingstone, London's Mayor, has to say and what he will do in regard to the recent veil controversy in the UK.
Since March 29th 2006