Often marginalized, if not completely excluded from most public spaces, the representation of women who wear the hijab is far from reaching a level of total inclusivity— regardless of region. However, a wind of change seems to be blowing through most industries, with an increasing number of characters on the big and small screen appearing veiled, more and more models seen strutting down catwalks donning a headscarf, as well as a substantial amount of hijab-wearing women, whether in the fields of politics or athletics, stepping up to snatch the reins of their own narratives and challenge stereotypes.
As their own stories start being amplified, initiatives celebrating the lives and experiences of veiled women are becoming progressively common. And one recent effort has just recently caught our attention for its symbolic approach to promoting diversity and inclusion. A sculpture celebrating women who wear the hijab will be hoisted in Birmingham, UK, next month. Believed to be the first-ever statue depicting a veiled woman, the structure, which is 5 meters tall and weighs around a tonne, is designed by renowned English visual artist Luke Perry who already has a track record of upholding underrepresented communities through his work.
Dubbed “Strength of the Hijab,” the steel-made statue will be installed in the Smethwick area of the West Midlands— nearby Birmingham— in October, and was commissioned by Legacy West Midlands, a charity that honors the heritage of post-war migrants in England.
“There’s a possibility that this piece could be controversial for many different reasons,” Perry shared with media agencies. “I don’t feel like any of them are valid, but people do, there are a lot of people who object to the differences that we have in our communities and would like them to be more divided,” he added.
“But the future of our country is about what unites us, not what pulls us apart, which is why it’s important to have representation across the whole of the UK, of everybody that lives here,” the 40-year-old said, claiming that so far, reactions towards his latest piece of art has been “really, really positive.”
The England-born artist recently made headlines in May for having designed a sculpture celebrating centuries of black British history, in Birmingham also, in an effort to stress how “Black British History is British History” — a straightforward message that eponymously became the title of the artwork itself.
