Boushra Almutawakel

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Boushra Yahya Almutawakel [b. 1969, Sala Yemen]. Almutawakel studied in the USA and Yemen, obtaining a BSBA in International Business at the American University in Washington, DC. It was during her time as a student that she became interested in photography and worked as a photojournalist at the university newspaper and yearbook and as a photo lab assistant at the School of Communications.  On her return to Yemen in 1994, she worked mainly as an educational adviser but continued developing her photographic work, doing freelance photography, and participating in many group exhibitions

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Mother, Daughter, Doll was created in Sana’a, Yemen in 2010, as a commentary on religious, patriarchal misogynistic extremism and the misuse of Islam, to weaponize control over women. It questions extremist patriarchy and asks why women and girls need to cover up to be deemed acceptable. Although Yemen has always been a conservative country, the extremism was partly due to the influence of a brand of Islamic ideology, Wahabism, coming from Saudi Arabia. Although different areas throughout Yemen had/have different colorful decorative veils, they have been sadly taken over by the black veil. Mother, Daughter, Doll is part of a larger ongoing body of work, The Hijab Series, which the artist has been working on since 2001. After Sept 11, Islam, Muslims, their beliefs, and their way of life, became headlines. Arabs and Muslims were either demonized or romanticized. Part of this paradoxical portrayal is the way Middle Eastern women have been portrayed artistically and/or in the media: as exotic, beautiful, mysterious, helpless, oppressed, and ugly. Part of this portrayal has included the veil. In this ongoing project on the hijab/veil, Almutawakel explores the many facets of the veil based on her experiences and observations.

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Proceeds donated to Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation.  The Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation aims to increase awareness of the US public and policymakers about the humanitarian crises underway in Yemen, support relief and reconstruction efforts, and facilitate campaigns to bring peace to the country.

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Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation

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More information on Boushra Almutawakel's work

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