Fowler installation displays life behind the veil

While some artists use paintbrushes to make a masterpiece, Samta
Benyahia uses the ambiguities between the seen and the unseen.

On Sunday, the Fowler Museum at UCLA presented
“Architecture of the Veil: An Installation by Samta
Benyahia,” which serves as the artist’s U.S. debut. It
will be open through Sept. 2.

This site-specific installation is based on Arabo-Andalusian
wooden grillwork known as moucharabieh.

“It was a kind of grillwork that was very common in North
African architecture in the past,” said Polly Nooter Roberts,
chief curator at the Fowler Museum. “It had the shape of
rosettes and it was used as a kind of barrier to separate
men’s and women’s faces in ancient Algeria.”

The moucharabieh had the effect of letting light, air and sound
through. But, as male passersby could not see in, the women on the
inside could see out. It served as a conceptual boundary between
the two gender’s domains during the early 20th century, when
women were isolated from the public.

But Benyahia, who was born in Constantine, Algeria, and studied
at Ecole Nationale Superieure des Arts Decoratifs in Paris, has
modernized the wooden moucharabieh motif using printed rosettes on
an electrostatic film that covers all the first-story windows of
the museum. The design on the film was specifically chosen by
Benyahia to represent the women of her country.

“The reason why I picked this design of the rosette is
because it is the design of Fatima,” Benyahia said.
“The Arabo-Andalusian culture aspect is very important, and
as a woman I have selected this particular design to represent all
women in the Arab world.”

Not only does the installation include the moucharabieh, but
there are also eight large-scale black and white photographs of
early 20th-century Algerian women, including her mother, aunt and
herself, whose intense gazes represent the vivacious spirits of the
generation.

Also included are embroidered tulle veils that will be hung from
the ceiling to reflect the sunlight that Benyahia uses as
inspiration.

“We will have veils attached to the wall and flowing from
the ceiling,” said Gassia Armenian, curatorial and research
assistant at the Fowler Museum. “It will fall on the
photographs of the ladies, and in the sunlight you can see the
different reflections of the rosettes.”

While visitors observe the work displayed, recordings of women
reciting poetry and songs in French and Arabic play continuously in
the background, lending another element to enhance the
viewer’s experience of the lives of Algerian women during the
early part of the century.

“You will hear the (recited poetry and songs) continuously
in the space,” Roberts said. “It will add another
audible dimension which is really important.”

This auditory supplement reflects the environment in which
Benyahia grew up, and she feels that it is very important for
visitors to recognize that behind the grillwork, these women
experienced joy in each other’s company.

“I have the music and sound of poetry and fables because
this is how I grew up in the house behind the grillwork in our
private area,” Benyahia said. “We had the laughter and
the stories and the songs and all the fun you can
imagine.”

The message that Benyahia is trying to convey through her
installation is not only about the old practices in Algeria, but,
more importantly, the transparent partitions that separated the
men’s public space from the women’s domestic domain.
From the outside, it appeared that the shadowy figures behind the
moucharabieh lived a hard life of restriction under male rule. But
despite what the public saw, on the inside, the women held much
hope and pride.

“The women of my mother’s generation, physically,
had many restrictions. However, mentally, they had freedom and they
strived to work more, have liberal ideas, more education … and
more self-improvement,” Benyahia said. “Women of that
generation knew they had a very hard life and would try everything
to try and improve their everyday life.”

The concept of what is seen and what is not seen holds much
significance for Benyahia. Creating this idea of what the public
sees and what really goes on behind closed doors ““ or wooden
rosettes ““ shows the historical values that were once tightly
held. It also shows the strong spirit of the women who lived
through these hardships.

“Creating this exhibition in different places is my way of
paying my respects to the generation of my mother and my aunt, who,
through all kinds of sacrifices, raised us,” Benyahia said.
“They didn’t have the chance during the colonial period
of Algeria to go to school ““ they were homebound ““ but
they had open minds and hope that their girls would advance and go
out into the world.”

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