Opening May 9th 2019 at 5 pm Hotel Saturnia Via XXII Marzo San Marco 2398 Venice opening May 10th , 2019 at 5 pm Artlife for the world Gallery Cannaregio 3782/B Venice Beyond the Veil Women’s Art I Markers XI In honor of the 58 Venice Biennale Beyond the Veil is an international art project with the participation of 100 women from five continents and includes visual artists, authors, poets and social activists. The exhibition portrays art veils and scarfs each symbolizing characteristic customs and cultural motifs that represent the background of each artist. The covering of the body by women and the customs that are connected to it,are a representative and controversial factor in formal traditions and religions. Today, in Western Europe for example, the debate around allowing the use of extreme clothes that cover the body is in the public eye. Many pieces of art, in all media including film, video, plastic art, poetry and literature all deal with this issue. The liberal Saudi poet Halima Muzaffah wrote that the Islamic extremists use the covering of women as a political symbol rather than a religious one in order to achieve their goals to strength their bond to Islam. Among the extreme factions of ultra-orthodox Judaism, it is customary to use veils or shawls to cover the whole body. Lately, there is a fundamental argument about the behavior of orthodox women in Jerusalem who cover their entire body, and head, in black. Christianity is represented by the gowns of the holy nuns that cover every part of their body for reasons of modesty and holiness. In Third World tribes, such as those found in Africa, India or Afghanistan, women cover their bodies with a long coil of cloth that is decorated with rich shapes and vibrant colors. The covering of the body – despite it representing a patriarchal demand for a woman’s modesty on the one hand, is a cultural sign of individual female identity on the other.