Untitled (Rapture Series)
Collection
Gelatin silver print
125.5 x 191.4 cm (framed)
Untitled (Rapture Series) forms part of a series of photographs that Shirin Neshat produced in conjunction with her allegorical video Rapture (1999). Set in a stony desert, the video shows a group of veiled women symbolically turn their backs on a homogeneous group of men standing aligned on a fortified castle. The women’s emancipatory gesture culminates in their joint march toward the shore where some of them board a boat, leaving the viewer behind with questions about their destination: Are they placing themselves at God’s mercy? Are they seeking liberation elsewhere or is their mysterious departure heralding their suicide as to prevent punishment for their exodus? Depicting the heart of the story, this photograph shows the women walking to the sea, toward its uncertain horizons and recumbent intentions.
Neshat’s renunciation of explicit political commentary is exemplary of her work, which generally revolves around the condition of Muslim women, striking a balance between the search for cultural identity and the distortions and prejudices faced in the West. In her photographs and videos Neshat has explored the segregation of men and women in Muslim society, projecting the construction and politicization of the public space and the confinement of desire to the private sphere. The female gaze thereby generally becomes a powerful and dangerous instrument for communication. As Neshat told Arthur Danto in a conversation published in BOMB Magazine: “The women are the unpredictable force, they are the ones who break free. The men, from the beginning to the end, stay within the confinement of the fortress. This all ties back to what I believe is a type of feminism that comes from such a culture; on a daily basis the resistance you sense from the women is far higher than that of the men. Why? Because the women are the ones who are under extreme pressure; they are repressed and therefore they are more likely to resist and ultimately to break free.”[1] (TBA21)
125.5 x 191.4 cm (framed)
Untitled (Rapture Series) forms part of a series of photographs that Shirin Neshat produced in conjunction with her allegorical video Rapture (1999). Set in a stony desert, the video shows a group of veiled women symbolically turn their backs on a homogeneous group of men standing aligned on a fortified castle. The women’s emancipatory gesture culminates in their joint march toward the shore where some of them board a boat, leaving the viewer behind with questions about their destination: Are they placing themselves at God’s mercy? Are they seeking liberation elsewhere or is their mysterious departure heralding their suicide as to prevent punishment for their exodus? Depicting the heart of the story, this photograph shows the women walking to the sea, toward its uncertain horizons and recumbent intentions.
Neshat’s renunciation of explicit political commentary is exemplary of her work, which generally revolves around the condition of Muslim women, striking a balance between the search for cultural identity and the distortions and prejudices faced in the West. In her photographs and videos Neshat has explored the segregation of men and women in Muslim society, projecting the construction and politicization of the public space and the confinement of desire to the private sphere. The female gaze thereby generally becomes a powerful and dangerous instrument for communication. As Neshat told Arthur Danto in a conversation published in BOMB Magazine: “The women are the unpredictable force, they are the ones who break free. The men, from the beginning to the end, stay within the confinement of the fortress. This all ties back to what I believe is a type of feminism that comes from such a culture; on a daily basis the resistance you sense from the women is far higher than that of the men. Why? Because the women are the ones who are under extreme pressure; they are repressed and therefore they are more likely to resist and ultimately to break free.”[1] (TBA21)