From January 3 – 26, the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center (IFCC) of Portland, Oregon, will be hosting two exhibits designed to give a face to women in oil-producing countries, many of which are predominantly Muslim.
“Janet Essley’s exhibit- Oil/Resist- is a play on words between the media Ms. Essley is using and the message in her work. Motor oil, carpet felt, tar paper and other petroleum based materials are employed to give a face to the people who live in oil producing countries. Portraits and an installation piece create and intimate connection between people and effects of oil production…. Joining [Ms. Essley] are two Iranian women artists [Hengameh Azadi and Hengameh Modarresi] brought to us by the Oregon Women’s Caucus for Art in an exhibit entitled Iranian Women Speak Out Through Art.”
The website states: “Two exhibits connected by a theme of place working in very different media come to the IFCC. We often refer to major oil producing countries as just that. A place. Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran, have become places and this exhibit reminds us that these countries are filled with people who live full lives barely touched by the influence of the oil or more often the victims of it their government and corporations who control the oil production.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself. There are Muslim women out there are who are speaking up through their media, and this is a great example.
On the subject of speaking up, if you’re an American Muslim women, there’s a chance for you to tell your story. In the dating/courtship process, Muslim women are all assumed to be passive and without choices as to whom they date/marry. We all know this is a crap idea, but why not change it by telling your story, whether you’re single, married, engaged, or whatever you like? All the details are here.
Salamo Alaikom Zaynab,That is very good post, it has brought into my mind the pioneering experience of Iraq under Saddam Hussien regarding women rights. As far as I remeber the best laws regarding women rights and familly in the entire Arab/Muslim sphere was in Iraq. The Seventies and eighties of Iraq witnessed a boom in female modern art. Here one has to remeber the martyr of Islam the Iraqi painter Layla El-Attar who was killed by an American misile in 1992 whil she staying in her home in the free Bahgdad.That experience was only matched by that of the Egyptian feminsit revolutionaries in 30 and 40s where we witnessed the first woman pilot in the mulsim world ( the third in the world) and an Egyptian woman- Hoda Sha3rawy was given the honour of being the first muslim to take off the Hijab in public, only to be followed by all Egyptian women afterwards. That is untill the dramatic set back in women rights we are witnessing in Egypt at the present,under the influence of Islamised regimes whether in Saudi Arabia or IranBest RegardsAmre
Salaam ‘alaykum and thanks so much for the link for the anthology – much appreciated!Warmly,Baraka
Salam Alaikum, This is pretty interesting. Thanks for the post.`Aisha