Unfold the history of the headscarf

For most of the Western world today, the phrase 'headscarf' always reminds women, especially Muslim women, to embrace towels for religious reasons. But covering the head with a cloth is actually beyond the scope of religion, culture and geography.

"Veiled, Unveiled: The Headscarf" Exhibition (roughly translated: 'Che, Ve: The headscarf ') at the Weltmuseum (World Museum) in Vienna, Austria, has brought a variety of looks to this outfit. The exhibition lasts from October 18, 2018 to February 26, 2019, including photographs, drawings, videos and designs of the headscarves' reproductions around the world.

Exhibition of headscarves at the Weltmuseum, Austria.

Axel Steinmann, curator of the exhibition, said a series of social-political events last October sparked the exhibition: an advertising of the pharmaceutical industry with a woman wearing a headscarf; the appearance of human emoticons wearing hijab hijacks on social networks proposed by a 15-year-old girl; and decided to grant citizenship to Saudi Arabia and this robot is not a headscarf like the female citizens here.

Steinmann emphasized that, throughout the long history in the East and the West, the headscarves were influenced by political and moral factors. According to him: 'The purpose of the exhibition is to recreate the changes that the hijab has gone through and the changes have been forgotten, removed or simply unknown.'

The photos at the show show all, from traditional Christian veil to exquisite high-end towel designs or symbolic cloths. And while a drawing shows a young, round-eyed girl wearing a stylish summer suit with a half-tied headscarf that won the prize at a fashion design competition, a sketch another from Tehran described a woman with a tight-fitting scarf, completely hidden face, only showing her small ankle in high heels. The overlap and contrast appear throughout the exhibition.

Since the 1950s, the headscarves have become a fashion icon.

Today, headscarves are often the focus of debates in the West, focusing on the headscarfs of Muslim women. The exhibition does not shy away from the contemporary controversy about the headlining of Muslims, and points out that "some young Muslim girls and women are forced to cover up themselves" in public. The exhibit also acknowledges the fact that, in general, the headscarves 'often represent the imposition of men's orders on women'. However, Steinmann emphasized, it is impossible to see only the headscarf as a religious expression that women depend on men.

By placing these images next to the images that the headscarves are a symbol of piousness in Christianity, the liberation of women or even sophistication, the "Che and Vein" exhibition shows The headscarf is not a particular domain of a religion, a culture or a worldview.

Human head cover has been an integral part of monotheistic religions originating in Abraham like Israel, Christianity and Islam - and even the origin of the headscarves can be traced back to ancient times. thousands of years before religion.

Spirit of materialism - Julie, portrait of a lady.(Photo: Suzanne Jongmans).

In Christianity, veil becomes a symbol of honor, humility and virginity. The apostle Paul asked the women to cover their faces when they talked to God. The head cover was once considered a privilege of married women and nuns. At the end of the Middle Ages, a number of European cities passed laws regulating how women should cover their heads and necks.

In the early 1920s, the Pope condemned women who wore 'indecent' when dancing. During the Austrian-German Republic and after the Nazi occupation of Austria, Dirndl's headscarf and spread skirt were indicative of the loyalty of women to their homeland.

By the 1950s, print headscarves became a fashion accessory that symbolized elegance, sophistication and liberation."Humble fashion" is the name of a fashion trend to reveal less skin; it has grown into a multi-billion dollar business without depending on any particular religion.

Viennese Chic, 2018.

The exhibition also displays the history of men's headscarves. According to Steinmann: "Men's headwear (turban, yarmulkes, etc.) is also regulated by historical and cultural-religious aspects combined with dress codes."

Like women, religion sometimes requires men to cover their heads before God, as the Jewish Talmud mentions. Men can also wrap their heads like a fashion style. The tendency of Turban men to wrap towels in 18th-century portraits is considered 'a cross-cultural disguise to show off masculinity' - Steinmann said.

Nomadic men in the north swamped their faces to avoid the evil spirits.

The interweaving of gender, geography, and age elements in the exhibition raises the question: Is the headscarf considered a universal accessory? The answer is not simple."But from time to time, the head - just like the body - is always decorated or covered in all cultures ," says Steinmann.