Analysis Of Shirin Neshat 'Art In Exile'

629 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Womens rights in iran under shah

In December 2010 Shirin Neshat gave a TedTalk asking its audience to consider how they perceive Iran. As an artist in self-imposed exile from Iran, Neshat uses the TedTalk, “Art In Exile,” to talk to a western audience about the Iranian peoples’ struggle to shake off the negative preconceptions many have in the west. Neshat uses her artwork to explore this issue and aims to highlight the role of Iranian artists, how western views on Iran are changing, and the strength and importance of Iranian women in their country’s fight for freedom.
Firstly, Neshat introduces the role of Iranian artists. She discusses how it is relatively distinct due to their existence being characterised by politics. According to Neshat (2010), artists hold a vital place in society as the mouthpiece of the people. Many feel pressurised to fulfil their social obligation to communicate the realities of their political, cultural and societal situation to both the Iranian public and the western world. For example, the script in Speechless (see Figure 1) symbolises what the woman wants to say but cannot. Through this globally relevant artwork, Neshat goes beyond politics and religion to provide a social commentary on Iran. In other words, the Iranian public and outside world are provided with a valuable insight into the situation and views of Iranians. This is through artists such as Neshat who are free from the strict ideological constraints that the current Islamist regime imposes.
Figure 1. Neshat, Shirin. 1996. Speechless. Gelatin silver print and ink. Retrieved from http://www. glad stonegallery.com/artist/shirin-neshat/work#& panel1-4
Like Neshat, Khosrow Hassanzadeh is another
Iranian artist who is asking us to consider how the west views Iran. Both aim...

... middle of paper ...

... courageous women?
In conclusion, the Iranian artist, Shirin Neshat, gave a TedTalk in December 2010 that outlined the role of Iranian artists in how the west perceives Iran and the changing position of women in Iranian culture as the political and cultural situation slowly shifts. In the end, what Neshat managed to convey through this talk was her desire for the west to consider the biased information that tends to front our news headlines in recent years, and further study could reveal why these negatives are often emphasised by the west. Although Neshat is in self-imposed exile from Iran, she still manages to highlight to the west the issues her country faces. Consequently, Neshat causes many peoples’ focus to shift towards Iran’s rich history and the strength of the Iranian people today and therefore helps to inspire people to continue the struggle for freedom.

Show More
Related

  • Essay On Ernie Barnes

    1852 Words  | 4 Pages

    The October Gallery. (2000, May 19). About the Artist [Online]. Available: http://www.octobergallery.com/sbarnes.htm [2001, March 19].

    Read More

  • Firoozeh Dumas Influence On Iranian Culture

    727 Words  | 2 Pages

    Firoozeh Dumas’ home country of Iran was, both prior and during the Iranian Revolution, vastly different than the capitalistic and also increasingly xenophobic United States, which had both its benefits and drawbacks. During each period of time that Dumas lived in the U.S. she faced hatred on the basis of her nationality and religion, most notably during the Shah’s visit to Washington, D.C. where her entire family and other Iranian families were threatened and many even violently beaten (113). Although she faced no physical trauma, Dumas was reminded of the negative attitudes towards Iranians that were even further inflamed during the hostage crisis in Tehran, leading to her hiding her heritage and her father struggling to find a job (117). On one occasion, her father was fired from a position after his employer realized that Kazem was Iranian, proving that for some ethnicity was more important than merit or skill level.

    Read More

  • Persepolis Spring Break

    917 Words  | 2 Pages

    Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel, Persepolis, is a story based on her own childhood in Iran. The story consists of the struggles her family and friends are forced to deal with, changing Marji’s view of Iranian life and its people. The book starts during a revolution, the Iranian people are trying to overthrow the emperor and when they finally do, war breaks out between Iraq and Iran. During the war thousands of people’s lives were taken, women, children and men of all ages. During this Marji’s parents forced her to leave Iran because they know it is too dangerous for a child of her age to live in the middle of a war so severe and life threatening. During the time Marji did live in Iran, she heard many tales about the umpteen conflicts and struggles that lower class people were faced with. Marji saw her maid whom she loved and cared for, not being able to date her love, their neighbor, because she was embedded in a different social class. She experienced the harsh realities of divergence between men and women. Women were compelled to wear a veil in order to not “distract” men with their hair. Younger boys in the lower end of the class system were given a “golden” key to take to war, which was actually plastic; this key meant that if they were killed fighting for what they believed in, it would guarantee their entrance to heaven. In Iran, there were a variety of ways in which the people of Iran can be distinguished between social classes. Your social class affected you in every way there was during this horrible time in Iran.

    Read More

  • Duccio’s Maestà

    1444 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Art Bulletin, Vol. 57, No. 2 (Jun., 1975), pp. 176-185. (College Art Association), accessed November 17, 2010. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3049368.

    Read More

  • Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

    1140 Words  | 3 Pages

    In America, many have come to recognize Iran as a terrorist nation, but in reality, many Americans stereotype Iranians because they misunderstand the country and how it got to that point. In Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel Persepolis, she gives her readers an inside look of Iran by writing about her childhood during the Iranian Revolution and the changes in her life during that time. The frames in Satrapi’s graphic novel draw similarities and differences between advertisements and the Iranian culture. After analyzing the Satrapi’s graphic novel to advertisements we will look at the similarities and differences of how graphic novels and advertisements use words and images to establish the visual rhetoric.

    Read More

  • Shirrin Neshat Jealous Silence Analysis

    406 Words  | 1 Pages

    Neshat, born in 1957, came from a culture where a person was free to express themselves until an Islamic overthrow, “Returning for a visit to Iran in 1990 after a twelve-year absence, Neshat was stunned by the magnitude of change. Women everywhere now wore the head-to-toe black chador, the version of veiling characteristic of Iran, which had been abolished in 1936” (Neshat 153). No longer did women have the freedom to do as they pleased, everything is dictated by the government. Shirin Neshat is shown wearing a chador and the writing on her face, while holding a gun. The work is called “Rebellious Silence.” Now the woman must wear chador, and do as the government says, but the gun represents that she is rebelling from the culture and wants things to be restore to the former, and reinstate the freedom that the she once had in Iran. That the women will no longer be subjected to wearing what the

    Read More

  • The Guerrilla Girls Breaking Barriers With Punch Lines

    1581 Words  | 4 Pages

    This investigation will examine a few key works by the anonymous female artist group know in popular culture as the Guerrilla Girls. In this essay it will reveal several prominent themes within the groups works that uncover the racial and gender inequalities in politics, art and pop culture with the use of humor. These collaborating artists work and operate with a variety of mediums, their works display a strong message concerned with activism connected by humor allowing the Guerrilla Girls to communicate and resonate a more powerful message to the viewer. The ways in which this collaborating group has employed many questions and facts against the hierarchy and historical ideologies which have exploited women and their roles in art. This investigation will allow the reader to identify three areas in which the Guerrilla Girls apply a certain forms of humor to transform society’s view on the prominent issue of gender in the art world. These specific ploys that are performed by the Guerrilla Girls are in the way they dress, the masks they wear, pseudonymous names of dead women artists and the witty factual evidence in their works. These are all examples to evoke audiences in challenging not only the art society which dictates the value and worth of women in art but also to confront yourself and your own beliefs in a way that makes audiences rethink these growing issues.

    Read More

  • The Effects Of Western Culture In Persepolis And A Long Way Gone

    917 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi’s childhood experiences allow her to demonstrate the cultural changes that occurred in post-revolutionary Iran, as well as those perpetrated by western culture. In Persepolis, western culture plays a major role in the author’s attempt to dispel the

    Read More

  • Khomeini's Charismatic Leadership: Overthrowing The Shah

    702 Words  | 2 Pages

    Even today, Iran has largely maintained its anti-American stance, and conflict between the two nations is tangible. The United States, still wary of Iran’s hate for all western influence, keeps sanctions on Iran, in an attempt to restrict Iran's nuclear power. To many Americans, Iran is considered part of the Axis of Evil, a nation of terrorists and radical Muslims. In Iran, there still exist many ‘death to America’ slogans. With Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani, however, the United States and Iran have started restoring diplomatic relations. We can only hope that Iran and the US will find enough common ground to break the shackles of

    Read More

  • Shirin Neshat Cultural Background

    76 Words  | 1 Pages

    Shirin Neshat is an Iranian artist whose artwork leans on her cultural background. She is a film director, video artist, and photographer. Neshat’s personal experiences have shaped and strengthened her artistic journey. Neshat focuses on the cultural history of the country she has been exiled from and is a voice for the people who her country silences. Her photographs, films, and videos take on large social issues and collide the traditional and the modern (Princenthal

    Read More

  • How Does Satrapi Use Comedy In Persepolis

    1093 Words  | 3 Pages

    When the Islamic Revolution begins, Satrapi utilizes comedy to highlight different aspects of Marjane’s naive personality in relation to the serious conflicts in Iran. Moreover, Satrapi incorporates comedy into her character’s provincial personality to emphasize the limited

    Read More

  • Women's Rights in The Islamic Republic of Iran

    1331 Words  | 3 Pages

    To understand the changing role of women starting during the Islamic Revolution, it is important to briefly review the lives of Iranian women and the role of Islam during the final years of the secular regime of the Shah. Mohammad Reza Shah was disliked by the majority of Iranian population, but his secular and prominent Western attitude allowed for some reforms of women’s rights in Iran. For example, in 1963 he created a reform program which would eventually be known as the “White Revolution,” which included suffrage for women (Beck and Nashat 114). This decision led to a violent reaction, especially from strong Islamic leaders such as Ayatollah Khomeini, whom would eventually play a pivotal role in the revolution and women’s rights. Although the Shah allowed for women’s reform, he was popularly known as a dictator and appeared to be in complete favor of maintaining a traditional patriarchal society.

    Read More

  • Cultural Conflicts In Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis

    520 Words  | 2 Pages

    The religion of Islam was imposed upon Iranians, whether they liked it or not. Marjane and her classmates “...didn’t like to wear the veil, especially since we didn’t understand why we had to”(Satrapi 3). The young girls were against wearing the veil because they were not practicing

    Read More

  • Lettrism and Situationism: Examining and Comparing Expressionism Movements.

    2551 Words  | 6 Pages

    ...p from the world they live in, a world of separation and indicate themselves with their own realities. Art is handed over into society’s hands, as in one movement it is suggested - to fixate what is real, live like you create and create like you live; in other – abandon media’s proposed ideas and take the leadership of life in our own hands.

    Read More

  • Geography Of Iran Essay

    941 Words  | 2 Pages

    The region that is now called Iran is a highly misunderstood country. It is located in an ideal location (Middle East), has lots of history and, there is a lot of interactions between the people and where they live. This paper will discuss Iran’s location, region, human-environment interaction, movement and place.

    Read More

More about Analysis Of Shirin Neshat 'Art In Exile'

Open Document