Shirin Neshat
b. 1957, Qazvin, Iran
Rebellious Silence, 1994
Resin coated print, ink
Edition of 3 + 1 AP
Photo by Cynthia Preston
Courtesy the artist and Gladstone Gallery

Created between 1993 and 1997, Shirin Neshat’s Women of Allah series emerged after her return to Iran following years of exile during and after the Iranian Revolution of 1979. This series presents conceptual narratives about female warriors during the Revolution.

Each piece in this series contains symbols associated with Western representations of the Muslim world: the veil, the gun, the gaze, and Farsi text, which was drawn from contemporary poetry by Iranian women poets. In Rebellious Silence, for instance, Neshat’s face is covered with Tahereh Saffarzadeh’s poem “Allegiance with Wakefulness,” which honors the conviction of martyrdom and the revolutionary role of women.

O, you martyr,
hold my hands
With your hands
Cut from earthly means
Hold my hands,
I am your poet.
With an inflicted body. I’ve come to be with you and on the promised day, We shall rise again.