Rabbya Naseer & Hurmat Ul Ain: White As Snow

About

Pakistani artists Rabbya Naseer and Hurmat Ul Ain present White as Snow (2008), a short looped video which challenges traditional attitudes towards women in the Islamic world. Naseer and Ain show themselves seated against a bare wall, narrating personal facts in short sentences, delivered in a rhythmic chorus sung in their native Urdu language. They accompany their repetitive chant by gently rocking back and forth and occasionally swaying their heads sideways. The artists consider the constructed image of an ‘ideal woman', taking the role of the chaste, obedient girl to exemplify how personal female moral values are determined by prescribed social behaviour. Deliberately placing themselves in front of the camera, Naseer and Ain dwell on the consequences of constant self-sacrifice for social acceptability.