Art as Response

Untitled [Birmingham Race Riot] from the portfolio Ten Works by Ten Painters

Andy Warhol — Mon, 01 Jun 1964 00:00:00 -0400

Title	Untitled [Birmingham Race Riot] from the portfolio Ten Works by Ten Painters
Artist	Andy Warhol
Date	1964
Institution	Walker Art Center
Location	Not on view.

based on a photograph by Charles Moore; duplicate copy

Rwanda

Gilles Peress — Wed, 01 Jun 1994 00:00:00 -0400

Title	Rwanda
Artist	Gilles Peress
Date	1994
Institution	Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Location	Not on view.

two seated men, one's face is visible, the other is not

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 22:48:18 -0500

Title
Author	Alicia Dolentz

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 22:48:19 -0500

Title
Author	Alicia Dolentz

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 22:48:20 -0500

Title
Author	Alicia Dolentz

Rights: Women's Experience

Sun, 01 Jun 2003 00:00:00 -0400

Title	Rights: Women's Experience
Author	Walker Art Center
Date	2003
Institution	Walker Art Center

"The reality of contemporary feminism in Iran is that resistance is an essential part of a woman's experience. As a result, women are very tough, the exact opposite of the outside image we have of these women. My attempt has always been to reveal, in a very candid way, the layers of unpredictability and strength that are not so evident on the surface."
--Shirin Neshat, 2000

"I had been working on the subject of the female body in relation to politics in Islam and the way in which a woman's body has been a type of battleground for various kinds of rhetoric and political ideology. Recently, through some reading, I became very interested in how space and special boundaries are also politicized and are designed to lift personal and individual desire from the public domain and contain it within private spaces. Ultimately, men dominate public spaces and women exist for the most part in private spaces . . . "
--Shirin Neshat, 1997

Many of Neshat's works relate to women's rights in conflict with contemporary Islamic practice, which dictates strict rules for women's behavior and mode of dress. But the artist cautions that feminist ideas from the United States may not apply to feminists in Iran. Equality between women and men is a goal often associated with U.S. feminism. Neshat, however, believes that Iranian feminists don't desire equality with men. They accept and respect differences between men and women, and seek rights that serve women as equal partners with men, but with different roles in society.

Choosing a Response

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 22:48:21 -0500

Title	Choosing a Response
Author	Alicia Dolentz

Soliloquy

Shirin Neshat — Tue, 01 Jun 1999 00:00:00 -0400

Title	Soliloquy
Artist	Shirin Neshat
Date	1999
Institution	Walker Art Center
Location	Not on view.

Ritual: Chador

Sun, 01 Jun 2003 00:00:00 -0400

Title	Ritual: Chador
Author	Walker Art Center
Date	2003
Institution	Walker Art Center

In Soliloquy, Shirin Neshat wears clothing resembling a chador, the traditional Iranian dress for Muslim women. A chador is a large cloth worn as a combination head covering, veil, and shawl. The garment was forbidden in Iran when Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was in charge, before 1979. Known as the shah, he wanted to modernize Iran and was supported by the United States. After the Iranian Revolution removed him from power, women were seen as key to achieving public change and they were required by the government to wear the garment. Since that time the chador has become more a political issue and less a religious one. (In fact, the law of Islam as written in the Koran does not require women to wear veils.)

In Iran, wearing a chador allows women to move outside the confinement of home into public and professional areas. As one Iranian schoolgirl explains: "We want to stop men from treating us like sex objects. . . . We want them to ignore our appearance and be attentive to our personalities and minds. We want them to take us seriously and treat us as equals, not just chase us around for our bodies and physical looks."

Excerpt from Women in World History Curriculum 2002

Shirin Neshat has firsthand knowledge of the chador and its complex history, having grown up in an Iran that forbade the chador and now representing her homeland in her work. But the complicated symbols suggested by the chador are a small part of what Neshat is after. For her, it points to larger issues of women's roles and cultural identity in a global world.

Soliloquy: West v. East

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 22:48:21 -0500

Title	Soliloquy: West v. East
Author	Alicia Dolentz

Soliloquy: Part 1/2 (play videos simultaneously)

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 22:48:22 -0500

Title	Soliloquy: Part 1/2 (play videos simultaneously)
Author	Alicia Dolentz

west 1

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 22:48:22 -0500

Title	west 1
Author	Alicia Dolentz

east 2

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 22:48:23 -0500

Title	east 2
Author	Alicia Dolentz

west 2

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 22:48:23 -0500

Title	west 2
Author	Alicia Dolentz

Political Demonstration, Democratic Convention, San Francisco

Thomas F. Arndt — Fri, 01 Jun 1984 00:00:00 -0400

Title	Political Demonstration, Democratic Convention, San Francisco
Artist	Thomas F. Arndt
Date	1984
Institution	Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Location	Not on view.

Art as Response

Untitled [Birmingham Race Riot] from the portfolio Ten Works by Ten Painters

Untitled [Birmingham Race Riot] from the portfolio Ten Works by Ten Painters

1964

Rwanda

Rwanda

1994

Rights: Women's Experience

Rights: Women's Experience

Walker Art Center

2003

Choosing a Response

Choosing a Response

Soliloquy

Soliloquy

1999

Ritual: Chador

Ritual: Chador

Walker Art Center

2003

Soliloquy: West v. East

Soliloquy: West v. East

Soliloquy: Part 1/2 (play videos simultaneously)

Soliloquy: Part 1/2 (play videos simultaneously)

west 1

west 1

east 2

east 2

west 2

west 2

Political Demonstration, Democratic Convention, San Francisco

Political Demonstration, Democratic Convention, San Francisco

1984