Beauty and the faith - girls and their hijabs

A STRIKING new exhibition at Gallery Oldham explores the meaning of the hijab to young British Muslim women.

Sisters, the exhibition by Manchester photographer Clement Cooper, also aims to shatter the stereotypes of Muslim women portrayed by the western media as oppressed, having no freedom and being forced to wear the hijab.

The photographer, who has been strongly drawn to Islam over the past four years, said he embarked on the project because he wanted to explore what it is to be a Muslim woman.
His exhibits includes atmospheric black and white photographs of Muslim women from Oldham, Manchester, Preston, and Birmingham.
Alongside these are a series of recorded interviews in which each subject talks about their faith and their own reasons for wearing the hijab.

Clement, whose previous projects have included looking at life Manchester's Moss Side and Longsight communities said he overcame his prejudices while working on Sisters.
He said: "Following 11 September, I heard so many negative stories about Muslims being terrorists and Muslim women being oppressed and I felt a need to explore.

"I started reading about Islam and because inspired by it and the people I met on the project."
Clement met Muslim women through various Islamic organisations and local high schools.
For example he worked with Muslim girls at Grange School and Hathershaw Technology College in Oldham where he taught photography. Pupils from both these institutions are featured in the exhibition.

Before starting the project, Clement said he feared it would be difficult to get women to co-operate but he found they were more than willing.
He said: "They were quite happy to speak about their faith and have their pictures taken. Even the imams went out of their way to help me. "I found Muslim women to be intelligent. They were aware of who they were and felt strongly about their beliefs. They had great respect for themselves and respect for others. What I found most amazing was that an eight-year-old girl wearing the hijab knew far more about herself and who she was than her much older white counterparts."

Clement, who was born and lives in Longsight, now wants to study Islam even further and hopes to travel to Muslim countries next year.

He added: "My experiences in Britain has been with Pakistani Muslims, I want to see how other Muslims live in different countries and broaden my knowledge.”
The exhibition coincides with Clement’s fourth book, also entitled Sisters. It includes the photographs taken during the project, as well as a CD of the interviews with the women.
The Sisters project has been funded by the Arts Council and is on show at Gallery Oldham until 12 March.

Source: The Asian News