Dominika Liptakova., Photo by Mohammed Langston & Alvyn Maranan

Beautifully Wrapped is an exciting and innovative wall calendar and companion traveling exhibition celebrating the beauty and splendor of headwraps.  Each year, we select 13 photos from an international pool of photographs submitted by professional and amateur photographers.  These images feature an eclectic and diverse array of people — from students in the United Arab Emirates, to community activists in Chicago — all of whom enjoy adorning their heads with cloth.

Conceived by Zarinah El-Amin Naeem, anthropologist and headwrapologist, Beautifully Wrapped presents the beauty, power, and global influences of headwrapping and highlights women of all backgrounds, regardless of ethnicity or religion who love the art.  After teaching headwrapping for the past 7 years, Zarinah was inspired to create an artful tribute to the culture.

Nawal Osman; Photo by Sarah R. Larson

The 2013 calendar is available for sale Summer 2012 with the exhibit available for travel starting Fall 2012.  El-Amin Naeem, co-publishers and featured photographers are available for lectures, talks and workshops on the culture of headwrapping.

The Calendar also serves as a fundraising tool for our work in girl and women empowerment.   Proceeds from the 2011 calendar went to support 10,000 Girls, a non-profit based in Senegal founded by Dr. Viola Vaughn.  Proceeds from 2013 will once again go to support 10,000 Girls and to establish Exalted Women, a new non-profit whose mission is to organize, encourage, and advance women and their families globally through education, economic opportunities and cross-cultural exchanges.

With each tuck, pull, fold and pin, wrapping has the unique ability to transform not only your look, but your spirit.  -Zarinah El-Amin Naeem, Curator and Headwrapologist