Shirin Neshat presents her trilogy chronicling the dream world of Iranian women

From Oct. 3, 2021 to Jan. 9, 2022, PRAC Center for Contemporary Art in Ponzano Romano presents the new exhibition project conceived by Iranian artist Shirin Neshatentitled Dreamers trilogy: lllusions & Mirrors, Sarah, Roja, curated by Graziano Menolascina and Annina Nosei and with the support of Gladstone Gallery in New York and Brussels for the spaces of the Chiesetta Santa Maria ad Nives in the heart of the Borgo Medievale in Ponzano Romano.

Dreamers is a video work composed of three short films that narrate the dream world of Iranian women, in stark contrast to the harsh reality of their culture. These are works that refer to the artist’s own experience as a woman outside the box. The characters and their dreamlike narratives are projections of Shirin Neshat, in which she reflects her dreams and nightmares, exploring the anxieties at the root of the transcultural experience of the migrant and refugee as a growing element of the contemporary world’s population. The artist is inspired by Man Ray when she uses a sheet of glass in front of the camera lens to distort the image, a technique Neshat uses in Illusions & Mirrors to signify warped and indistinct dream space, thus altering the image of the real world.

Illusions & Mirrors (2013), the first video in the series, stars actress Natalie Portman. The latter is guided by a distant blurred figure on the dreamlike archetype of the beach to a ruined mansion. Neshat forgoes spoken language and uses visual effects to bring a surreal atmosphere to life.

Sarah (2016), the second video in the series, features Sarah, played by Iranian-born artist Sara Issakharian. The work is set in a dense forest, and the short film consists of a succession of nonlinear scenes in which changes in camera perspective create a disorienting feeling of a recurring dream.

The last video in the series, Roja (2016) features a narrative more explicitly focused on Iran and Neshat’s dreams. Both Roja and Sarah have no actors; the writer Roja Heydarpour is herself a first-generation Iranian immigrant to America. As such, both works reference Neshat’s biography. In particular, Roja can be read as the unconscious trying to reconcile her identity; her relationship with American culture and her identification with a country of origin that no longer exists.

Through these three video installations, Shirin Neshat intends to recreate an unstable and fascinating constellation of dream space, inviting the audience to travel with her through an inner life to a destination defined by uncertainty.

For info and reservations: info@pracartecontemporanea.it (reservations required)

Hours: Tuesday through Sunday 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4 to 7 p.m.

Image: Shirin Neshat, Roja. Courtesy the artist and Gladstone Gallery.

Shirin Neshat presents her trilogy chronicling the dream world of Iranian women

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