by TAMARA TRIFFEZ – TRICASE (Le)- Many westerners regard the veil as a constraint, something that separates women from the world, the veil is considered by the Islamic culture, Hijab – veil – in Arabic means “that which separates two”, the veil separates women from the rest of the world by symbolizing the sacred altar of God.

Even in the Western monastic Christian culture “taking the veil” means separation from the world to become, in this case, the spiritual consort of Christ. A few decades ago, women in Southern Italy used to cover their heads with a scarf and went to Church with their head covered.

This exhibition is not an analytical study on the cultural phenomenon of the  “veil” and its contradictory meanings, but rather a trip into the symbolism that this object evokes through the ancient gesture of covering one’s selfwith a veil.

The veil is a powerful tool of charm, hiding in it an invitation to discover what it covers. Moreover, it is a strong esoteric symbol, in various religious traditions it means the duality of the human soul, consciousness veiled by passion and ignorance or otherwise, the veil that reveals speaks of knowledge of the ultimate reality, the discovery of our essence.  So the photos picture a story rather than just mere aesthetic appearance.

This exhibition has been organized in India, the cradle of many traditions. Many years ago, I was in the train station of Agra, where a very beautiful young dressed in a black sarhee embroidered with gold, enchanted me with her gestures. The wind of the moving train lifted the veil, revealing her velvet look, and her shiny smile. Every gesture was related with the veil and told much about her soul.

The veil of the women of India beyond the religious significance, exotic imagery, seduction or curiosity, is above all a fundamental object of everyday life. Indian women use it to wrap, transport, care for their children. It becomes a useful port packs, holds impromptu food, and is used as a towel after bathing in ponds or near the sacred temples. Young Indian women play with their veil in the wind, it is in a way their second skin.

Women often seem to come from fairy tales, women are like graceful butterflies in their coloured veils, accompanied by the tinkling of the many gold bracelets or glass. Women who split the stones to build the roads, women behind the windows, women in the fields, markets, temples, who are always set in the background with the great chaotic tumult of the vast Indian humanity.