The Woman in the Neon Niqab

Immigration is one of the great themes of the 2015 Venice Biennale -- which makes a lot of sense for the signature European art fair in an era when immigration is Europe’s most pressing political issue. But the most thought-provoking piece on the subject that I saw here in three days wasn’t actually in the festival. It was a temporary performance staged Wednesday morning near the entrance to the beautiful gardens where the national pavilions display their works. And it consisted of a single woman standing silently, staring ahead without moving -- a bit in the manner of the silent human statues you can see in New York's Central Park or London's Trafalgar Square, which for the most part don’t seem like good art at all.

What made the woman extraordinary was her outfit. She was dressed in a full niqab -- not only a headscarf or cloak but both, her face covered except for a slit for each eye. And her niqab clearly wasn’t the ordinary niqab of a very observant Muslim woman. It was made out of yellow reflective cloth, with four bright reflective silver stripes, like those you’d see on a first-responder. Imagine a yellow fireman’s coat turned into a conservative Muslim woman’s garb and you’ll know what I mean.