A Gaze through the Veil:

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emancipation from their codes. (Lileu, 2000, p6) Thus Neshat presents an element ofrebellious nature but displays this in a way that is unrecognizable to the Westernaudience. She is “giving voice to the body and body to the voice, she memorializedIranian women’s defiance” (Milani, 2001, p.7)In The Women of Allah Neshat deals with the effect of the Islamic revolution onIranian women but she does not present these women as repressed or passive. All theelements of these photographs; the chador, the weapons and the poetry emphasise thepower and strength present in Iranian women.
Chapter Three: Structures of OppressionShirin Neshat began to make video installations a few years after her Women of Allahseries. She no longer wanted to produce images that reflected political andcontroversial issues, but wanted to “make work that was more lyrical, philosophicaland poetic” (Zaya, 2005, p.21) hence she ventured into film and video. She wasinfluenced by the Iranian film director Abbas Kiarostami and with both her Iranianbackground and the Western cinema which she was exposed to in America, sheestablished a unique style. Like her Women of Allah series, her films are heavily ladenwith metaphors, they hold a lot of contrasts in relation to issues that are prominent inmodern day Iran.In this chapter I am going to analyze her trilogy of films, which consist of Turbulent(1998), Rapture (1999) and Fervor (2000). These are a series of films which deal withissues such as; the censorship which is imposed on Iranian women, gender roles,spatial constraints and sex-segregation in the Islamic Republic of Iran. They examinethe “structures of oppression that define the lives of Iranian women as well as theirceaseless transgression against them” (Milani, 2001, p.8)In her film Turbulent (1998), Neshat addresses the issue of the re-veiling/ banning ofwomen’s public singing in Iran. By addressing this issue she also deals with sexsegregationand power in relation to gender roles. Turbulent is a two-channel, blackand white installation. It begins with an Iranian male singer performing a traditionallove song; he is in a theatre, facing outwards towards the viewer. His back is to anaudience which only consists of men, all dressed in white shirts and dark pants. As themale singer finishes his performance, he turns to face the audience and acknowledgetheir applause. It is at this moment that we begin to hear the soft song of a woman.This woman is shown on the opposite screen; she has been patiently waiting for theman to finish. She stands with her back to the viewer, alone in an empty theatre. Asshe continues singing she gradually turns around to face the viewer. Her song steadilybecomes a loud wailing lament, the male singer turns back around and faces theviewer, but this time his gaze is fixated on the women in the screen opposite. He ispuzzled and confused, intrigued by her song. Her song continues to get louder and
Page 4 and 5: Introduction“In any society, the
Page 6 and 7: Chapter One: The Oppressed and the
Page 8 and 9: fundamentalist values. Khomeini sta
Page 10 and 11: In June 1993, sixty Hezbollahis att
Page 12 and 13: depicted wearing the chador and eve
Page 14 and 15: the Shah and it was also seen as a
Page 16 and 17: Fig.2. Persepolis, Film Still, 2007
Page 18 and 19: Chapter Two: Repressed or PowerfulI
Page 20: the men.” (Tenaglia, 2002, p.97)
Page 27 and 28: One would agree with this viewpoint
Page 29 and 30: oundaries. They pray, beat drums an
Page 31 and 32: Iran. It shows us the separation of
Page 33 and 34: Shirin Neshat’s work deals with i
Page 36 and 37: Reference ListBalaghi, S. (2002)
Page 38: Tenaglia, S. (2002) ‘The Power of

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