Tacoma-based international artist Anida Yoeu Ali is performing The Red Chador as part of her ongoing solo exhibition Hybrid Skin, Mythical Presence at the Seattle Asian Art Museum.
Responding to a global rise of Islamophobia, misogyny, and racism, The Red Chador continues Ali’s thematic interest in using religious aesthetics and public encounters to challenge perceptions and fears of otherness. Cloaked in sparkling red sequined chador, or Muslim headdress, the artist engages with the public through a series of small, unplanned interactions that evolve alongside society’s changing political and cultural landscapes. More than simply an item of clothing, The Red Chador is an allegory for the hypervisibility of Muslim women and a means to activate critical conversations on identity.
On Saturday, June 1, The Red Chador will make its triumphant return to Seattle alongside six additional fully-veiled performers in various colors of the rainbow. Together, this colorful brigade of sequined chadoras will walk and wander through the city’s streets in unison, allowing the public to bear witness to the glory, pride, and joy of hijabi women. In this reimagined iteration of The Red Chador, titled The Red Chador: Afterlife, Ali will lead the chadoras in a dazzling procession that reclaims the gaze of the Muslim woman from the rising threat of both Islamophobia and homophobia.
Joining Ali for this performance are Selma Al-Aswad, Sabreen Akhter, Nisreen El-Saadoun, Hiba Jameel, Soraya Sultan Meer, and Yireidi Valencia-Martinez. Each of these women are local to Seattle, non-performers, and identify as a Muslim woman. In their personal lives, these women work as a nutritionist, youth worker, pediatrician, social worker, community organizer, and public health advocate. The performance will take place both in and outside of the galleries. Admission to the museum grants you access to the in-gallery portion of the performance while all other parts of the performance are free and open to the public.
This performance will begin inside the Seattle Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park at 10 am. The chadoras will then make their way to the Olympic Sculpture Park, before ending inside the Seattle Art Museum in downtown Seattle at 4 pm. The rainbow brigade’s exact route and performance schedule will be released one week before June 1.