Headlines and swimwear, headscarves and demonstrations, fashion shows and papal audiences – how much religiosity secular societies can tolerate is shown in our current exhibition. In the 1950s and 1960s, style icons like Grace Kelly wore the headscarf as a fashion accessory. Today, religious context is the main reason why women cover their hair. These traditions go back to ancient times, when status and fashion determined which women were veiled. Hair was still regarded as too intimate to be shown publicly for many cultures.
Past exhibition

Where
Libeskind Building, ground level, Eric F. Ross Gallery
Lindenstraße 9–14, 10969 Berlin
Cherchez la femme - ARTE Exhibition Trailer (in German)
©ARTE GEIE - Auszug aus Rendez-Vous Kultur
Today, women in Judaism and Islam find new ways to combine their religious traditions with a modern lifestyle. Conflicts in masculine societies are inevitable; the boundaries of what is acceptable are under constant negotiation.
The Cherchez la femme exhibition presented a wide range of ideas and opinions regarding head and body coverings. Traditional ideas were juxtaposed with current fashion, religion with secular societies.
How do those who are often ignored in the heat of the debate describe their own situation? Whether complying with a strict Islam, or secular Muslims, religion as a private matter or wearing a headscarf as a sign of cultural self-determination – diverse women’s voices were heard in the exhibition. Rounding out the exhibition were works by Jewish and Muslim artists. Each of these women deals in her own way with the forces at work between tradition and participation in society and current social discourses.

Undressing/Soyunma by Nilbar Güreş, 2006; courtesy of the artist and Rampa Istanbul, photo: Nicole Tintera.
In her video performance Undressing, Nilbar Güreş (b. 1977) reflects on the situation in Austria, where Muslim women who wear headscarves are often reduced to the role of a silent puppet of their faith and de-personalized. As Güreş removes veil after veil she recites the names of the women in her family.
Credits
Curators: Miriam Goldmann, Naomi Lubrich
Exhibition design: büroberlin


Exhibition Information at a Glance
- When
31 Mar to 27 Aug 2017
- Where
Libeskind Building, ground level, Eric F. Ross Gallery
Lindenstraße 9-14, 10969 Berlin
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Blog Entries on Head Coverings
Blog
Miriam Goldmann:
Artist Andi Arnovitz Questions Traditional Matrimonial Law.
Blog

JMB Journal 16: Cherchez la femme
Exhibition journal
Publication
2017

Public Tour for Adults (in German)
There is no need for you to reserve for this tour. Just show up!
Guided Tour
Every Sunday at 2 pm

Why do women have to cover their hair with a wig or scarf after getting married?
Question of the Month

To Wear It Is to Believe It (in German)
Public Tour for Adults. There is no need for you to reserve for this tour. Just show up!
Guided Tour
2 and 9 April at 2 pm

A brief tour of the exhibition (in German)
Insights into the exhibition and its theme
Guided Tour
Always before the Monday Movies at 6 pm
Press Release on the exhibition
Press Release

Veiled
Exhibition on religious clothing in the Diaspora Garden
Exhibition
1 Jun to 1 Sep 2017
Monday Movies for the Exhibition: Cherchez la femme (3)
Events Accompanying the Exhibition: Cherchez la femme (4)
Fashion
Islam
Religion
Judaism

“I wish more people would look in my eyes instead of at my scarf”
Questions to Fereshta Ludin
Interview
16 September 2015
Our Exhibitions
List of current and future exhibitions
At a Glance...