Neshat

Shirin Neshat’s artwork is a genre I personally have never seen before and I feel that it presents thought-provoking ideas in a somewhat paradoxical form in that she is criticizing and deeply evaluating her own religion. While she signifies herself as a Muslim woman, she ironically challenges the religion and culture’s ideals and depiction of women or perhaps even the stereotypes of Muslims through her unique artwork. I believe that the stark visual constrict (black and white) in her work exemplifies the world’s black and white or cut and dry illustration of the Middle East and the Muslim community. While she says that she does not provoke the Muslim community, I fell that she does provoke people to think about who they really are and what they stand for. I really liked her ideal in that she does not intend to widen the divide between the western world and Islam (women specifically), but build a dialogue to encourage tolerance and respect through her controversial work. I liked the picture that presented a Muslim woman wearing a headdress with, what it appears to be, a target on her face. This illustrates the Western view on Islam and that they are all extremeist religious figures and that they need to be “taken care of.” While I personally don’t possess that false representation, many Americans do, which is very disturbing. She is trying to disintegrate the false violent stereotypes and assumptions the world has on Islamic women and promote that while these woman may look different and bow to a different god or government, they are not that starkly different.

The picture I chose is one by Neshat that depicts a mother’s hands around her child’s hands. I see this as the Islamic stereotype that from birth, the culture is brainwashing all people to become horrible people, when the mother is simply nurturing the child. You may ask where I came up with that idea, but just look around at the people who do think this way and have to sense that Muslims are not even people. This is precisely what Neshat is trying to evoke in the Western thought and ideals.