Contemporary Art 2010: March 3, Ray (Chan Pui Kwan), Shirin Neshat Rebellious silence 1994

Rebellious Silence byShirin Neshat

Shirin Neshat

-Neshat was born in 1957. She grew up in an upper middle-class family.

-Her family was westernized and adored the Shah(King of the Iran) who supported liberalism

-Her parents fantasized about the west, they accepted and absorbed the western ideas.

-Neshat’s father encouraged her to “be an individual, to take risks, to learn, to see the world”

-Neshat moved and studied in USA in 1973

Identity

-The Shah was overthrown by the revolution in 1979

-Fundamentalist control was re-asserted over the pubic and private behavior, everything was governed by the sacred stricture, such as the dress code.

-Neshat’s artistic response toward the fundamentalism is ambiguous

-Her work recognizes the complex intellectual and religious forces shaping the identity of Muslim women throughout the world.

-In the series "Women of Allah" , the contrast between the calligraphic text on women’s bodies and the prohibition on speech is often suggested by titles.

Rebellious Silence

-It belongs to the series of "Women of Allah" –

-B&W RC print & ink (photo taken by C. Preston)

-14 x 11 in. (35.5 x 28 cm.)

- It was executed in 1994. This work is number six from an edition of fifty.

Features

-The cold steel of a weapon parts a woman’s face and dark body into light and shade

-Left face is shaded by the gun

-Woman’s face is laced with calligraphy
--> poem: Iranian feminist poetry
-->resembles henna art—a kind of body art, tradition of Persian counties, then spread to India

Dress in chador(a large, usually black cloth worn by ome Muslim women to cover their heads and bodies )

Cultural identity

-Oriental and Western cultural differences, disagreement on values, it constitute the ambiguity of Neshat's artwork

-Shirin Neshatà has double identities: western liberal VS Iran Muslim tradition

-She Breaks the western stereotype--> women wear chadorà is not equal to foot binding in China

-Nevertheless, Neshat embrace Iranian culture

- She uphold the Muslim female right: neither passive, fatalistic nor weak

Tough

-Stereotype: Iranian female is weak and needs help

-->The weapon shows the toughness of the womenà NOT weak

Obedient

-Chador:

-->decreases the temptation to male
-->loyal to the husband
-->maintains chastity
-->Shade on the face: suggests Iran women live under the shadow of men

Non-negotiable

-Calligraphy on the face- it is illegible for Western readers to recognize the Iranian feminist poem
-->It suggests the failure of cross-culture communication

-Gun place in front of the mouth -->The pose suggests reluctant to talk

-The title- Rebellious Silence suggests the change in west attitude towards Iranian women

Past:
-repressed, weak, passive, fatalistic
-need to be rescue

After 9/11:
-the gun symbolizes the threatening image, a strong role

Silent, resolute and aggressive

•Black and white: it gives the sense of silence and coldness
-->constitutes a contrast : struggle for what her believes
•Weapon: ready to fight for and to protect what she values

Rigid, strict

-chador-observes the Muslim dogma

-Back and White- Strict, rigid

-The clothing and weapons suggest both women’s defence of Allah in the revolution, and their defence of privacy and chastity in daily life.

Personal feeling

-Repressed and suffocated

-Neshat’s complicated identities: balance between her own nationality and western education

-She breaks down the western stereotype --> white man’s burden to rescue the poor Iranian women

-Feminist: present a tough independent and strong image.

Related Artwork

-Women of Allah

-Contradictionà the images shows a clear but ambiguous contrast between defence and attack, secrecy and exposure, eroticism and aggression