England’s second-largest city is erecting a 16-foot tall statue weighing a metric ton and depicting a woman in a hijab, in celebration of Islamic veils that are often compulsory in Muslim-majority states.
“The Strength of the Hijab is a piece which represents women who wear hijabs of the Islamic faith, and it’s really there because it’s such an underrepresented part of our community, but such an important one,” said sculptor Luke Perry, a white, non-Muslim man.
“They need visibility, it’s so important,” he added.
The sculpture shows a grim-faced, strangely geometric, and mostly disembodied woman wrapped in a headscarf, perched upon a plinth reading: “It is a woman’s right to be loved and respected whatever she chooses to wear.”
It has drawn criticism online because wearing the hijab, or more restrictive face veils such as the niqab and burqa, as often not a choice in Islamic countries, with women facing arrest for wearing hijabs improperly or not at all, or vigilante attacks by Muslim men throwing acid in their faces.
The Strength of the Hijab was designed by renowned sculptor Luke Perry and will be installed in the Smethwick area of Birmingham in October pic.twitter.com/aawbAMhFsz
— PA Media (@PA) September 18, 2023
While the BBC and other establishment media outlets have avoided disclosing the cost of the piece, local reports say an estimated £25,000 (~$31,000) was spent on it. Legacy West Midlands, which commissioned the sculpture, is a registered “charity” that receives much of its funding from the state, including around £130,000 (~$160,000) in government grants and contracts over the last three years.
Birmingham is one of several English cities where the white British population is now in a minority, along with the capital of London, Manchester, and Leicester.
