I was travelling with a friend the other day when he asked if we could get off at King and Spadina. He wanted to check out a peer’s exhibit at the IMA Gallery (a space run by Ryerson University’s School of Image Arts). I agreed to go indifferently, though what awaited me was one of the most powerful photographic exhibits I’ve been to in a while.
Leila Fatemi, a “practising Muslim artist,” uses her own life experiences to create artistic discourse about the veil, work that is especially relevant, given the current attitudes and fierce debates about religious/cultural headwear in Quebec. Her IMA installation, The Wandering Veil, features images of a person veiled from head-to-toe in white cloth, photographed in exquisite, empty landscapes.
The effect is something ethereal, breathtaking, even divine, and the images are presented without commentary, leaving viewers to come to their own conclusions.
The Wandering Veil
Runs until Sat, Sept 28
IMA Gallery
80 Spadina Ave, Suite 305
imagallery.ca, leilafatemi.com
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