Women behind the veil
MALVIKA KAUL
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Yemeni artist Nizar tries to build his paintings of women around a pair of eyes.
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Spiritual women: From the "Queen of Sheba" series.
MOST of us, when we see a veiled Muslim woman, rush to form a common image — women bound by tradition, trapped in religious conservatism. But Mazher Nizar, a Yemeni painter, has the eye to see the person behind the veil. He paints the women behind the veil in different hues and forms — as spiritual beings, as victims who struggle and find a way, proud and loving, sad and forgiving — women who lead fascinating lives behind the purdah.
At a recent exhibition in New Delhi (at the Visual Art Gallery) Nizar showcased "Queen of Sheba", a series of paintings that attempt to show Islamic women as more than just burqa-clad women.
Nizar was born in Mumbai in 1958, and in 1985 graduated in graphic art from the Government College of Art and Craft in Kolkata. "My family is from Yemen and I was always fascinated by the old city of Sana'a (ancient Yemen was also called Sana'a, today it is the capital of the Republic of Yemen)." Although he says India is his "first love" and that he has been inspired by several Indian artists, Ganesh Pyne, M.F. Husain to name a few, Nizar finally settled down in Yemen in 1986. Ever since, he has been painting only veiled women and life in Sana'a, drawing from both his Indian and Islamic experiences. Most of the paintings displayed at the "Queen of Sheba" exhibition had Yemeni motifs, scenes from the old city of Sana'a, birds from ancient Biblical legends like the hoopoe bird often mentioned in relation to King Solomon. The sun and the crescent moon appear very often.
"My forms are still very Indian, the lines, the shape of the eyes, purely Indian. My paintings mix history with myths and philosophy." Nizar has been painting the Sheba series for over 21 years. Why Sheba? Nizar says the queen was famous for her beauty and intelligence, but what moves him most about her is her spiritual persona.
Many stories revolve around her famous encounter with King Solomon. Like the one where after hearing about Solomon's wisdom, Sheba goes to Jerusalem (from East Africa) on a boat, via the Red Sea, to test him. She returns satisfied as he apparently gave brilliant answers to her riddles. However, there are also stories about Solomon being suspicious of Sheba. He made her walk on a glass floor, which she thought was a stream of water, and had to lift her dress that revealed hairy legs and cloven feet. Again, there are two versions of the same tale: Solomon rejected her as a companion because she was not "feminine" enough; or he didn't get close to her because she was not human but a representative of Satan.
At a spiritual level
Nizar simply sees these interpretations as forms of male trickery: "Solomon exploited her. She went all the way (from East Africa to Jerusalem) to meet him. For us, in Yemen, Sheba is a spiritual leader, someone who introduced Islam to the region and whose reign was glorious."
Many of Nizar's women on canvas display that spiritual Sheba in them. "At one level I find women wearing a veil very fascinating. In some ways, all women in Yemen are hidden under the veil. But such women always question your mind more. They trigger your imagination more." That's why Nizar rarely paints women without the veil. Somehow, despite winds of change sweeping the world, he does not see women really wanting to throw away the veil. His images are often of gorgeous women who wear the veil like their wear other accessories. "Although the women have restrictions, I don't see them wanting to revolt. They seem to see the veil as part of them. It is close to them."
Mazher Nizar.
Watching his works, it's clearer why some Muslim women take on the authorities, and more, if they are told to drop the veil. Of course, Nizar is not oblivious to their suffering. Many of his works depict "hollow" women, broken and defeated. "It is a huge struggle for women. They have a lot of resilience and inner beauty to carry on the way they do."
Despite the sorrow, almost all his paintings have the "hope" motifs — some women have wings attached to them, others have birds flocking to them to fill their loneliness. In others, flowers dissolve into them... One painting shows a woman talking to birds perched on her face. Nizar says that he finds women far more connected spiritually, more in touch with nature and the other world. They may be veiled, he says, but they reach out far more.
Dual lives
Although he has been painting similar women for over 20 years, he says there is so much to paint about them. They are lively women, with so much packed into their lives. "During the day, the women go about their responsibilities according to social customs. In the evening, they wear their most fabulous clothes and jewellery under their burqa, collect at a friend's place and party. They sing, dance and smoke the hookah...In the morning, they are back in their social role."
Amid their dual existence, Nizar does not miss the inner conflict. In a society where one gets to see only a woman's eyes, Nizar says he tries to build his women around a pair of eyes. Some women in his paintings have blank black eyes, others have serene eyes and some that show hope and confidence. Nizar hopes to be back in India soon. "Maybe with some very different images of veiled women."
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