The veil in art is often still situated within Western discourse. Contemporary artists using the veil within their work often challenge colonial images of veil, and engage in Western debates about veil; less so do they engage in dialogue solely about the Islamic use and meanings of the veil, although some artists challenge and question the veil in Islam as well as its Western meanings. Thanks to the Colonial era and Orientalism, veiled women in Western eyes are often still seen as subservient, suppressed, and with no sense of agency or individual identity. Contemporary Muslim and Arab artists, both male and female, aim to give women back their sense of equality and agency while still retaining the presence of the veil.
The Post-colonial veil displaces “mainstream master narratives woven around the veil and the Muslim woman” (Behiery, 2012). One method of doing this is by demonstrating that the veil is subjective, with different meanings in different contexts; by showing the veil in geographic locations not typically associated with veil with an everyday context to image. An example is the work of Shekaiba Wakill’s photographs, showing Muslim women in major Western metropolitan areas, often engaged in everyday activities. A second method is the use of autobiographic narratives where the personal meaning of the veil comes through. This allows for different narratives and points of view of the veil. Ghazel’s Me series, which consist of short films and stills all starring her wearing a chador makes the veil banal as it is seen over and over, often in everyday situations. Her work challenges assumptions about veil and the idea that women who wear the veil must automatically be passive. For example, her film still I Try to be a Feminist shows her lifting weights, ie engaged in an something active rather than passive, and challenges assumptions about what can be done in a chador, as well as associating feminism and the veil. Often addressed to a Western, English speaking audience, she pokes fun at Western assumptions as well as Islamic ones (does anyone work out alone, inside, while wearing a chador?).