Category: Art Corner

Syria Refugee Girls Draw Images of Forced Marriage

Syria Refugee Girls Draw Images of Forced Marriage

Syrian girls at the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan recently attended sessions designed to raise awareness of the dangers of child marriage.

A new report by Save the Children titled “Too Young To Wed” has revealed that amongst the many devastating effects of the civil war in Syria is the increase in the number of forced marriages of Syrian refugee girls in Jordan, where the rate of child marriage has doubled from 13% in pre conflict times

Artwork by the girls created can be seen here.

Street Art by Black Hand – “Iran’s Banksy”

Street Art by Black Hand – “Iran’s Banksy”

A striking piece of graffiti in Tehran showing a woman holding up a World Cup in the shape of a washing-up liquid bottle has gone viral. It’s by Black Hand who is sometimes referred to as “Iran’s Banksy”. It’s unclear whether it’s a man, a woman, or a group of artists behind the work, but the graffiti keeps springing up around the Iranian capital.

The graffiti is the image of a woman in the national team kit, holding a bottle of washing-up liquid. It’s in response to women being banned from matches in stadiums.

The graffiti has been painted over.

Hijab Girl: Unveiled

Hijab Girl: Unveiled

A new comic book series “Hijab Girl: Unveiled” by author and illustrator Sarah Alhazmi, a Saudi youth currently residing in Dubai is a social and political statement on the role of women in Saudi society. Hijab Girl, the series’ protagonist, is a young girl living in Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi Gazette reports: In the opening pages, she is hit by a car owned by an affluent member of society who mistakes her for a garbage bag. After surviving the accident, Hijab Girl meets Fady, a young boy who is convinced Hijab Girl is a superhero after the car hurtles her through the air and she lands in a pair of green underpants.

On the difficulties she faced in releasing Hijab Girl: Unveiled, Alhazmi said: “Many regional publishing companies have refused to publish it because they don’t want to risk upsetting the powers that be. However at the Middle East Film and Comic Con (an annual event in Dubai that celebrates the comic book medium) where I released Hijab Girl, it was met really well.

“The thing about my comic is that many people see the cover and initially think it is an attack on their beliefs, but once they begin to read it, they are usually on board.

“I find it extraordinarily satisfying when someone picks up my comic thinking that they will be offended only to completely change their opinion midway through reading,” said Alhazmi on the readiness of the public to treat their issues with humor and laughter.

The art style and themes in Hijab Girl make use of slapstick comedy and cartoony illustrations to drive a strong message. “Approaching such a serious topic in a lighter ‘whimsical’ style makes the subject more approachable and less preachy, while still delivering its meaningful message,” Alhazmi said.

Some of her concepts are quite unique, such as Alhazmi’s business card, which looks like a faux drivers’ license, complete with a veiled mug shot revealing only Hijab Girl’s eyes that seem to hint at an agreeable attitude, masking very real – and justified – frustration. “Handing out my card, I usually say ‘we make our own.’ People laugh and pray for a better future. Some will ask for one of their own, others will condescendingly say ‘in your dreams sister.”

A collection of Iranian photography at the Fine Arts Gallery at Cal State Los Angeles

A collection of Iranian photography at the Fine Arts Gallery at Cal State Los Angeles

According to a report on a collection of Iranian photography at the Fine Arts Gallery at Cal State Los Angeles:

“When you’re an artist in Iran, you live a harsh reality.  

“Make a politically subversive sculpture and you’re censored. Create a painting that challenges religious norms and you’re censored. 

“But a new art exhibition showcases how Iranian photographers are able to create images into social and political commentary that fly under the radar. ‘The government of Iran is a religious theocratic government. 

And therefore it controls every facet of creativity in Iran’, says Abbas Daneshvari, curator of a collection of Iranian photography opening this Saturday at the Fine Arts Gallery at Cal State Los Angeles. ‘[But artists] have arrived at the point that they can express themselves in symbolic and metaphoric terms wherein it’s rather difficult to decipher their messages’. 

“For example, ‘Untitled’ is a photo collage of two men who look like they’re locked in a bloody fight. However, one could also say they’re drawn together in a passionate embrace. The image is by Sadegh Tirafkan, who is gay…”

Victoria Guggenheim

Victoria Guggenheim

Victoria Guggenheim is an award-winning body painter who sees the expression of your sexuality, and the autonomous use of the body as a human right. Censoring the human body is an act of closed mindedness and prudery and is a form of oppression. People confuse it especially when it’s on a female body, as porn.

The conflation of art with porn, and the idea that a woman’s body is obscene is largely due to organised religion’s view of the female form.

Bodypainting isn’t just a way to connect back with one’s own body, it is a source of power especially when used in conjunction with political activism such as the international day to defend Amina. The art form is visceral and immediate.

It is almost impossible for one to not take notice when someone is covered in paint and with good reason – it was the first art form dating back to 300,000 years ago.  

Victoria has worked with people who have disabilities and mental health issues and those who are ashamed of their body to get them to see themselves in new ways. People who are pathologically shy can become roaring dragons, people who are depressed can see themselves in a new skin, and people who are disabled can reclaim their body in a beautiful and artistic way. It often makes them realise the potential for beauty, and the strength their body has. 

An Iranian Journey

An Iranian Journey

According to a news report, Hossein Fatemi’s “An Iranian Journey” is a series that shows young people’s public modesty and piety as a result of strict rules and regulations vanishing once they escape the wary gaze of authority. These youths play music, drink, smoke, co-mingle and enjoy other activities. They are online, on Facebook, and are politically engaged and simmering, craving freer speech but stifled by the Islamic regime of Iran’s rules. “Naturally, whatever you prevent a human being from doing, it makes them want to do it more,” said Fatemi, who is represented by Panos Pictures

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Fatemi sees his task as putting in the open what is shrouded in the dark. Whether it is alcohol consumption or patronizing prostitutes, he seeks to photograph what is forbidden. Fatemi was born in 1980, one year after the overthrow of the Shah and the establishment of the Islamic Republic that’s ruled since. Almost everybody he photographed in his project has only known Iranian life under theocracy.

Nevertheless, the youth of this generation, more so than their parents, is well-informed about the West, global affairs and politics. They embrace American culture and influence. They’re pacifists, he said, and more than anything else, they crave a more open society where freedom of expression and speech are protected.

Beyond the Veil

Beyond the Veil

Kiana Hayeri’s photographic project Beyond the Veil shows a predominantly young Iranian population (more than seventy-five percent is under the age of thirty-five) challenging compulsory hijab or veiling and restrictive rules in the way they dress or interact with the opposite sex despite fines, imprisonment and worse.

Many take risks to put on a bit more makeup, wear more colourful clothing, reveal bare arms, push their headscarves farther back or do things behind closed doors that are banned. Embodying a personality and determination of this generation, Beyond the Veil captures, in subtle and quiet ways, a window into this disobedience both behind closed doors and on the streets of Tehran.

 

This project not only explores the ‘veil’ in its literal sense of the word, the Hijab, but also as the curtain that delicately separates public and private lives of Iranians.

Burka Avenger

Burka Avenger

The Burka Avenger is an amazing action-comedy animated TV series shown on Pakistani televition that follows the adventures of the Burka Avenger and three young kids in the imaginary city of Halwapur as they fight the evil Baba Bandook and his henchmen.

The superhero is a mild mannered unveiled teacher who becomes the burka avenger when her school is threatened with being shut down by Islamists, armed with pens and books.

5th Passion for Freedom Festival

Passion for Freedom Festival

The fifth annual Passion for Freedom Festival was held during 4-9 November 2013 despite the original venue pulling out last minute due to ‘legal and security’ concerns. Shortlisted artists exhibited works addressing a wide range of issues, including the veil, women’s rights and freedom of expression. The winning piece – judged by an international Selection Panel was ‘The Perfect Stone’ by Victoria Burgher.

Iranian Woman

Iranian Woman

Award winning film and music maker Deeyah has released ‘Iranian Woman’ focusing on the music of Iranian women and their struggle for artistic expression. Under a regime that currently represses women from performing in public places, the contemporary artists in this collection are the standard-bearers for a tradition of Persian music making by women that stretches back some 3,000 years

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