reading” for many reasons. As a viewer in a Western audience, we can see the calligraphic forms scrawled across the woman’s face, but we cannot understand them. Even then, it should also be noted that even someone who knows the Arabic alphabet wouldn’t be able to read the message due to the fact that Neshat utilized the language Farsi, the native language of Iran. Instead of being recognizable shapes that we can translate into language, the calligraphic letters become formal, design-like elements, that add another layer of depth to our understanding of the message behind the work. The already charged imagery of the hijab-clad woman with the barrel of a gun to her face becomes even more loaded because we want to venture deeper, we want to know what the words say, but we are kept at a distance because of the language
reading” for many reasons. As a viewer in a Western audience, we can see the calligraphic forms scrawled across the woman’s face, but we cannot understand them. Even then, it should also be noted that even someone who knows the Arabic alphabet wouldn’t be able to read the message due to the fact that Neshat utilized the language Farsi, the native language of Iran. Instead of being recognizable shapes that we can translate into language, the calligraphic letters become formal, design-like elements, that add another layer of depth to our understanding of the message behind the work. The already charged imagery of the hijab-clad woman with the barrel of a gun to her face becomes even more loaded because we want to venture deeper, we want to know what the words say, but we are kept at a distance because of the language