Source: Farhang Foundation & LACMA
LOS ANGELES, CA, June 1, 2009 - Farhang Foundation announced today a
program featuring internationally renowned
artist Shirin Neshat
on June 15, 2009 at the
Los Angeles County Museum of Art's (LACMA) Bing Theater at 8:00 pm. The
program includes screening of work-in-progress segments of her film "Women
without Men" followed by a discussion between
Shirin Neshat and Nasrin Rahimieh, Professor of
Comparative Literature and
Maseeh Chair and Director of Dr. Samuel M.
Jordan Center for Persian Studies
and Culture School of Humanities at the University of California, Irvine.
"Women Without Men," Shirin Neshat's first
feature length film, is
based on a magic realist novel written by Iranian
author Sharnush Parsipur. The narrative interweaves the lives of four
Iranian women during the summer of 1953, a
pivotal moment in Iranian history when an American led Coup d'état brought down
the democratically elected Prime Minister
Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh and
reinstalled the Shah to power. The film chronicles the lives of the four
characters in
parallel manner. Each woman appearing to be suffering and running away from
some sort of social, cultural or sexual
oppression; yet their lives mysteriously converge in an orchard where they
attempt to create their own society. The
story follows the construction and eventual breakdown of this 'utopian'
society. The film is expected to be released in
2009-2010.
This event is ticketed. Tickets are free-of-charge, and will be available at the
Museum's box office one hour prior to
the start of the program. LACMA is located at
5905 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles CA 90036.
For more information about this program, please visit
www.farhang.org.
About Shirin Neshat
Shirin Neshat was born 1957, Qazvin, Iran. Although she lives and works in New
York, her artwork explores issues of her
native society, Iran,
especially the position of women. She uses the specifics of her background
culture to create works
that communicate universal ideas about loss, meaning, and memory. Shirin
Neshat's photographs and videos have been
included in many international
exhibitions and have received numerous recognitions and awards. In 1996
Neshat was
awarded a grant from the Louis
Comfort Tiffany Foundation.
About Nasrin Rahimieh
Dr. Rahimieh's research has focused on intercultural encounters between Iran and
the West, modern
Persian literature,
literature of exile and displacement, women's writing, and post-revolutionary
Iranian cinema. Her publications include
Oriental Responses to the West: Comparative Essays on Muslim Writers from the
Middle East (Brill, 1990)
and Missing Persians: Discovering
Voices in Iranian Cultural
Heritage (Syracuse
University Press, 2001).
About Farhang Foundation
Farhang Foundation is a non-religious, non-political and not-for-profit
foundation established in 2008 to celebrate the
art and culture of
Iranian-Americans in its widest extent. The foundation supports academic
activities in Southern
California by funding university programs, publications and conferences.
The foundation also supports cultural programs
such as celebration of Nowruz and Mehregan, theater, dance performances, films
screenings and poetry reading in Southern
California. Farhang Foundation, in cooperation with various cultural and
academic institutions
plans major programs and
exhibitions about Iran and its culture. For more info visit:
www.farhang.org.
About LACMA
Since its inception in 1965, LACMA has been devoted to collecting works of art
that span both history and geography and
represent Los Angeles'
uniquely diverse population. Today, the museum features particularly strong
collections of Asian,
Latin American, European, and American art, as well as a new contemporary museum
on its campus, BCAM. With this expanded
space for contemporary art, innovative
collaborations with artists, and an ongoing transformation project, LACMA
is
creating a truly modern lens through which to view its rich encyclopedic
collection. For more info visit:
www.lacma.org.
... Payvand News - 06/02/09 ... --