Muslim head scarves

Medium: Public Art

---

Artist: Fatima Mouajche

Confronting Bodies: Nursery school administrators

Date of Action: March 2004

Location: Samone, Italy

Description of Artwork: A head scarf traditionally worn by Muslim women.

The Incident: A nursery school denied Fatima Mouajche--a forty-year-old Moroccan woman--an internship after she asked to wear her head scarf during class. School administrators told her that "if she works with her head scarf on, she risks scaring the children."

Results of Incident: The issue has divided Italian politicians. The Interior Minister, Giuseppe Pisanu, disagrees with the school's decision. Members of the Northern League, a right-wing party, have praised it. The mayor of a neighboring, Ivrea, has promised to hire Ms. Mouajche for a nursery school in his town.

Source: The New York Times