Zoorkhaneh : a whisper of empowerment in Iran's gender struggle
department or school: Creative and Critical Studies, Faculty of (Okanagan)
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCO
creator: Pirhadi, Nasim
issued: 2023-09-01T21:18:30Z
issued: 2023
related degree: Master of Fine Arts - MFA
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: My work explores the conflicts surrounding women’s inequality in Iran. In my artwork, I use material transformation, installation art, cultural and symbolic references as methods through which I reflect on women’s problems in Iran. Iranian women are struggling to establish their status in a highly patriarchal society. This struggle, alongside the looming specter of violence they are subjected to as retaliation for resisting their oppression, creates an unrelenting fear that, no matter how hard they fight, all their efforts may be wasted at any moment. There is a Persian proverb that best articulates this fear in relation to my work: “whatever I weave is unraveled again” (Soheili 184). Similarly, as fabric that can be unwoven, I create fragile networks of intertwined ideas and materials in order to represent women’s vulnerability in Iran and the fearfulness they have no choice but to live with every day. In creating vulnerable structures subject to material disruption, I symbolically explore women’s constant underlying terror, their lack of independence, and the material challenges that fill the space of their absent rights to emphasize the tangible or practical challenges that women face and refers to the physical, real-world consequences and obstacles that women encounter as a result of their marginalized status. Regarding crime and punishment, personal freedoms (employment and travel), and legal status (marriage, divorce, and inheritance), Iranian law does not consider women equal citizens. This kind of systemic violence is a shared and disruptive experience every Iranian woman faces. As an Iranian woman myself, I forcibly create space to tell the stories of those of us who live through the reality of this oppression. Whilst all my work is in some way reflective of this ongoing struggle, certain aspects of my thesis project focus on the current unrest unfolding in response to “the murder of a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian Jina Mahsa Amini, who was violently detained…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/85787
note: Zoorkhaneh: A Whisper of Empowerment in Iran's Gender Struggle By Nasim Pirhadi M.A. in Painting, Islamic Azad University Tehran Central Campus, 2017 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF FINE ARTS in THE COLLEGE OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Visual Arts) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Okanagan) August 2023 © Nasim Pirhadi, 2023 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the College of Graduate Studies for acceptance, a thesis/dissertation entitled: Zoorkhaneh: A Whisper of Empowerment in Iran's Gender Struggle submitted by Nasim Pirhadi in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts. in Visual Arts. Examining Committee: Samuel Roy-Bois, Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies Supervisor Tania Willard, Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Megan Smith, Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Melissa Jacques, Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies University Examiner iii Abstract My work explores the conflicts surrounding women’s inequality in Iran. In my artwork, I use material transformation, installation art, cultural and symbolic references as methods through which I reflect on women’s problems in Iran. Iranian women are struggling to establish their status in a highly patriarchal society. This struggle, alongside the looming specter of violence they are subjected to as retaliation for resisting their oppression, creates an unrelenting fear that, no matter how hard they fight, all their efforts may be wasted at any moment. There is a Persian proverb that best articulates this fear in relation to my work: “whatever I weave is unraveled again” (Soheili 184). Similarly, as fabric that can be unwoven, I create fragile networks of intertwined ideas and materials in order to represent women’s vulnerability in Iran and the fearfulness they have no choice but to live with every day. In c…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2023-09
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0435728
language: eng
degree discipline: Visual Arts
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Roy-Bois, Samuel
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/85787