Having lived as an expatriate for many years, I have lost count of the conversations I have had with people who felt displaced from their homeland. People bring their culture with them to create another culture – not of the world they have left behind or of the new world to which they must acclimatize, but a third world that is neither here nor there. This sense is not just true of Pakistanis living abroad, but of every nationality one meets – whether it is Kazakhs hankering for horsemeat in Dubai, Arabs trying to recreate shisha nights in the West or our own endless quest for the best haleem in town.
Expatriates often describe this feeling of living away from their home culture, and yet feeling more connected to it than they did while there. Being away from home, in essence, reaffirms one’s idea of what home is. Shirin Neshat, an Iranian-born artist who has lived in the US for many years, explores these themes in her incredibly powerful work.
'Roja, Book of Kings'
'Ibrahim, Book of Kings'
People bring their culture with them to create another, third, culture
The Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC, forms part of the Smithsonian and houses its modern art section. One of the museum’s most popular exhibitions this summer has been the Shirin Neshat retrospective: a collection of the artist’s work over the last two decades. In a series of provocative images, videos and live installations, Neshat’s “Facing History” catalogues Iran’s political history though the Revolution, the role of women and men and Islam in Iran, all the way through the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia and the ensuing Arab Spring.
The display features some of her early work and video installations. The monochrome black-and-white photographs are compelling, particularly as they bring to life aspects of her native Iran, where she lived until 1975. A self-proclaimed artist in exile, Neshat claims to be a voice for her people, one connecting to her homeland through her art. She explores Iran pre- and post-Islamic Revolution, tracing change through powerful images of women and men. Though celebrated in the West and having won several awards, she is best known for her series “Women of Allah” – a haunting sequence of photographs of women with Persian poetry etched, almost like henna, over their faces, hands and feet.
'Sharif'
Dichotomy is a vivid theme in Neshat's work: man and woman, light and dark, black and white
Neshat comments: “Poets use metaphors and symbolism to construct images. I construct my images in the same way, except that I am using a different form.” Dichotomy is a vivid theme in her work on man and woman, in light and dark, clothed in black or white, through various mediums and live video installations. The images are familiar – of segregated prayers, of women and men living separate public lives, of groups celebrating the weekend with picnics on the Arabian Sea coast. These are captured in the journey represented by video installations titled “Turbulent”, “Rapture” and “Fervour”. Again in black and white, they reflect the duality of lives between women and men.
'Rapture Gala'
The exhibition flows through several large shows, through which one is transported to Iran across space and time. One of her shows is heavily inspired by the Persian poet Firdousi’s epic poem, Shahnameh (The Book of Kings), which revealed magical stories of kings and queens in seventh-century pre-Islamic Iran. The images are juxtaposed against the recent Arab Spring and the so-called Green Movement in Iran, launched to protest against corruption in 2009. Legend has it that Firdousi wrote the Shahnameh as an attempt to protect Persia’s pre-Islamic culture and preserve it for future generations. Centuries later, Neshat also illustrates that culture and religion are different and showcases the conflict between the two. In a way, she tries to explore the difference between the Persian culture of which the Iranis are proud and the evolution of that culture as it became influenced by religion.
The series comprises three groups of large black-and-white portraits, hand-annotated with Farsi calligraphy – “The Villains” (representing the powerful and merciless), “The Patriots” (representing those persecuted for their beliefs and those who stand up for their values) and “The Masses” (the public). It is hard to convey how powerful these life-size images are when facing them. Each portrait conveys how an individual can represent so much of what pervades our lives – history, art and politics. There is no overt statement except through the starkness of the black and white. The only colour is red in some of the images to depict the sacrifice of blood and martyrdom in a modern context. “The Patriots” are particularly striking because they place their hands on the left side of their chests, over their hearts as a sign of loyalty and respect.
Untitled
Woman of Allah'
In concluding the Shahnameh, Firdousi wrote:
I’ve reached the end of this great history
And all the land will talk of me
I shall not die; these seeds I’ve sown will save
My name and reputation from the grave
And men of sense and wisdom will proclaim
When I have gone, my praises and my fame.
Walking through these halls with Neshat’s work on either side, Firdousi’s words ring true even today. Palmyra’s head of antiquities was executed publicly by ISIS in Syria because he refused to disclose the location of irreplaceable antiquities. The battle to preserve one’s culture, regardless of religion and state or where one comes from, is more alive than ever.
