Rebellious Silence, Shirin Neshat (1994)

            Shirin Neshat is a photographer and a film director who works in the United States. However, her artwork reflects the Islamic society, primarily in Iran, where she was born. Her focus lies on the Islamic culture and tradition, especially on women in Islamic culture (Carnegie Museum of Art , Par 1). Due to her explicit attacks on sexual, political, and religious issues in Iran, she cannot work in her birth nation (Collins, Par 1). She questions the position of women in Islamic culture and the fight between the tradition and the revolution.

            Her works ask questions instead of answering them. In Rebellious Silence,we have a woman, covered in a veil, holding a gun. Her face is covered with writing; the writing on her face makes her seem as if she is wearing a niqāb, not a hijab. Niqāb is one of the more extreme veils women must wear, showing obedience to the male supremacy in Islamic culture. The woman looks as if she’s ready to fight. She looks determined, staring straight at the camera. The origin of the musket is unclear, but its presence implies that she is going to war, ready to fight. Neshat’s works depict women in the Iran-Iraq War, responding to the violent war at that time (Metropolitan Museum of Art, Par 1). Although her works are based on women’s position during the war, her feminist actions also imply that these women are ready to fight for their right in the conservative world of Islam. Although women took part in the Iran-Iraq War, they are still mistreated in both countries; Neshat, like previous artists, raises the question of who the war is fought for. The woman in the picture raises the question of what she’s fighting for—is it for herself or for the benefits of others?