Shirin Neshat is an Iranian born artist, with running themes of juxtaposing ideas in her work. Some of these themes include, Islam and the West, femininity and masculinity and public and private life.
During first year, we were shown some of her work, photography and video and it had an incredible impact as it has such deep and political meanings. One of her most famous pieces of video work that I enjoyed was Turbulent, this is a dual screen piece in which we watch a man sing what I assume is a traditional song, with a full crowd watching with his face to the audience. On the other screen is a woman, singing what can only be described as sounds, which seem to not sound like words, facing the audience with no one in the crowd. This is displaying Identity quite clearly. Neshat also has a lot of work around the oppression women feel in Iran and this is show in Turbulent. The man on the left screen is singing with a crowd listening; whilst the woman, has no one in the audience and isn't saying any words, almost as if she isn't allowed an audience to voice herself.
Neshat also does photography work and has created some wonderful and moving pieces of imagery with some calligraphy work too. She created series of images that are sacred parts of peoples bodies. Such as their faces, hands for praying, and feet for walking on. These were shot in black and white to display the hardship and depth of what Neshat is trying to display. As she is well known for her political and identity themes I feel this is displayed very clearly through these three images. Showing that your identity is what you say and your religion and that it is displayed on your body. Having words from the Quran on your face is an incredible political statement and one that could liberate women in Islam which is what Neshat is trying to do.
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