What does it mean to be a Canadian, a Quebecer, a Muslim and a Lebanese all at once?
According to Dalila Awada, being a Muslim and Quebecer go hand in hand. In the video above, which is part of Et voilà! Le voile musulman dévoilé, Awada describes how multiple facets of her identity inform who she is. Sometimes she has to prove parts of her identity to others; at other times, she has to fight against the labels the world tries to put on her. More importantly, as a Muslim woman who wears the hijab, she says, “I want my veil to be one facet of my personality, not my entire personality.”
Too often, Awada says, people fall into the trap of thinking that their way of doing things is the only way for a modern society like Quebec.
This is the misconception that Et voilà! Le voile musulman dévoilé hoped to dispel through an exhibition at the Musée des religions du monde in Nicolet, Quebec. Through video, photographs and quotations, the exhibition presented first-person perspectives of a diverse group of Muslim women in Quebec who choose to wear the veil. The exhibition was supported by Inspirit and more information about the project is available here.
The Musée des religions du monde is a research and cultural venue dedicated to the preservation, study and dissemination of Canada’s and Quebec’s multi-faith heritage, including First Nations, Métis, and Inuit spiritual traditions.