Background
Almutawakel was born in 1969 in Sana"a, Yemen, has moved to Paris from Yemen in 2013, and lives in Neuilly with her husband and their four daughters.
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Boushra Almutawakel
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She engaged specifically with the Egyptian writer Nawal El Saadawi"s remark that "women who wore the hijab or niqab were the same as women who wore makeup in the sense that they all hid their true identities", and sought to interpret Saadawi"s ideas through photography. Almutawakel"s work also examines the ways Yemeni women have covered their bodies historically and in the present. Discussing her focus on clothing and the niqab, Almutawakel has said "I want to be careful not to fuel the stereotypical, widespread negative images most commonly portrayed about the hijab/veil in the Western media.
Especially the notion that most, or all women who wear the hijab/veil, are weak, oppressed, ignorant, and backwards".
Another project depicts women dressed in men"s traditional clothing. Almutawakel explains "men"s traditional clothing is very similar to women"s clothing—long, loose, modest and often with a head-covering.
The focus in Western media is always on the way women are dressed so I wanted to challenge this idea."
She has worked as a photographer for the British Council, Cooperative American Relief Everywhere and the United Nations. And also worked for the Yemeni embassy in Washington, District of Columbia as a consultant on cultural affairs and for the Yemeni Ministry of Human Rights, focusing on women"s issues.
