Please join the Art History Department for this lecture presented by Pamela Karimi, Associate Professor of History of Art and Architecture at Cornell University.
Following the tragic murder of Mahsa Amini, Iranian women took to the streets in large numbers to protest. Their bodies were the focus of these demonstrations, with women dancing and spinning their headscarves or anonymous activists installing protest banners or using sanitary pads to cover surveillance cameras in order to prevent state authorities from imposing conservative dress codes on women. The courageous presence of women in public spaces has been a crucial aspect of this revolution, with many instances of women's political activism on the streets taking on characteristics of art production. By entering the realm of visuality and sense-experience, traditionally assigned to art and aesthetics, activism has taken on performative dimensions. However, the "Woman, Life, Freedom" uprising is not the only manifestation of such involvement. For over three decades, Iranian women artists (and, by extension, activists as artists) have engaged in public art activism, creating moments of rupture in everyday life without necessarily declaring an overt political stance. These artists have used guerilla-style tactics such as painting graffiti, playful drifting, and occupying empty urban spaces to assert their right to the city and challenge strict urban regulations. Such innovative practices in busy urban areas are more challenging for women artists than their male counterparts. This presentation highlights the work of several prominent contemporary women artists who have questioned the limitations of public life for women, demanded freedom of expression, and reclaimed the streets through their creative and courageous interventions.
Pamela Karimi, Associate Professor of Architecture at Cornell University, is a trained architect and historian of art and architecture with expertise in the modern and contemporary Middle East. Karimi's newest book, Women, Art, Freedom: Artists and Street Politics in Iran, investigates the art and activism in Iran that has played a crucial role in the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising.
This event is presented with support from the Department of Art History’s Baldwin Lectures Fund and the Department of Comparative Literature.
