Sitārah: Exploring the Transformation of Yemeni Women's Dress Code over Time via Boushra Almutawakel's Photography

Abstract

‘Mother, Daughter, Doll’ and ‘Colourful Sitārah’ are two photographic collections by Boushra Almutawakel (b. 1969). These collections aim to visualize the conservative grip on Yemeni women from the 1960s up to the present day. This article discusses the progression of the blackness of female covering caused by social, political and cultural developments that are special to the Yemeni context. Almutawakel's photographs celebrate the sitārah, the traditional colourful Yemeni cape, which was altered into a black, shapeless garment through the ideological invasion of Wahhabism in Yemen, which has led to increased isolation and invisibility for women there.