Shirin Neshat And Moustafa Essay

Over the past 100 years the countries of the Middle East have experienced many major regime changes, wars, and societal upheavals. These events have shaped, and will continue to influence, the area for years to come. One notable effect that these changes have caused, is the alteration of art forms, and the scattering of artists to other Western nations in order to avoid persecution. Shirin Neshat and Ahmed Moustafa are two such artists who have emerged from the events of their respective countries with unique artistic voices that capture the attention of audiences worldwide. It is clear that even through the trials and tribulations that have been imposed upon them during their lifetimes, these two artists have found a way to retain the influence of their nationality, while still creating work that speaks to individuals on many levels. Shirin Neshat can be considered a modern-day artistic refugee. She spend nearly twenty years cut off from her home in Iran after the Islamic Revolution, and even when she was able to return the drastic societal changes under the new Shia led government …show more content…
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