A head wrap can be a bold form of self-expression, if you know how to do it right.

Zarinah El-Amin Naeem plans to show women here how it’s done, at a workshop tomorrow night.

The Muslim, who is a native of Detroit, will give a brief history of headwrapping and share tricks and techniques from around the world at the BIU.

She believes that head wraps are as much a part of fashion as any other clothing item.

“One of the aims of my head wrap workshops is to use fashion to bridge communities,” said the 36-year-old, who was invited here by local Muslim group Al-Mu’minaat. “Fashion is something all of us experience, every day.

“Everyone has covered their head for some reason, even if it’s just because of the weather. I wanted to use our commonalities as a hook to bring people into a space so we can have conversations.

“Headwrapping has the unique ability to combine culture, fashion and spirituality all in one piece of cloth and across so many cultures. When you look deeper into it, you find it can really be a unifying force.”

Ms Naem’s parents converted to Islam shortly before her birth.

Detroit always had a strong Muslim population,” she said. “In general, there is a stronger sense of Islamaphobia today than when I was growing up. If you look at the news you have presidential candidates making hateful statements and pushing rhetoric that is incorrect.

“Headwrapping is sometimes held up as evidence that Muslim women are oppressed. I grew up covering my head because I am Muslim. I never felt oppressed. When I started travelling after university, I was surprised by how many different cultures and religions cover their heads. There are lots of different countries in Africa where women wrap or cover their heads for modesty.

“The Sikhs in India do it. It’s common in some parts of Europe. Catholic nuns wrap their heads. I never heard anyone say Mother Teresa was oppressed. There are even men, in some cultures, who do it.”

She regularly highlights head wraps in a calendar she created to raise money for charity, Beautifully Wrapped.

“The calendar was a way to portray the more realistic, modest side of beauty that you don’t often see portrayed on popular television channels like MTV,” she said. “When I started producing it five years ago, I had no idea what the response would be.

“To be honest, I just wanted to raise some money for 10,000 Girls, a charity that helps educate girls in Senegal. People absolutely loved it. One father in-boxed me to say he’d given it to his teenage daughter.

“His daughter was covering her hair but was concerned about the response at school. Her looking through the calendar and seeing other women inspired and strengthened her. Her father wanted to know when the next one was coming out.”

Ms Naem is an author who runs headwrapping expos and workshops and a self-publishing business. She also has a company, Enliven Your Soul, that helps inspire people to lead creative lives.

“This is my first trip to Bermuda and I am looking forward to it,” she said.

Tomorrow’s workshop, which runs from 6.30pm until 8.30pm, is open only to females. Tickets are $15.

Women are encouraged to bring a scarf so they can try some of the headwrapping styles themselves.

Mrs Naem will host a women’s retreat on Saturday from 10.30am to 5pm at Masjid Muhammad in Hamilton. Tickets are $50.

A second retreat takes place there the following day from 1pm until 3pm. Tickets are $10.

All tickets are available at Brunswick Bakery or by calling 537-5231.

Proceeds go to the Clara Mohammed School. For more information, visit niyahpress.com or look for Beautifully Wrapped on Facebook.