A Gaze through the Veil:

dominated space. “Etymologically the word rapture means ecstatic delight as well astransit to a blissful place.” (Milani, 2005, p.10) Is this what Neshat is symbolizing;that the women of Iran are beginning to see the promise of travel and different lands,“travelling into the unknown to explore new forms of power and agency” (Milani,2005, p.10)Fig 9: Shirin Neshat, Rapture, Still from Video Installation, 1999.Rapture is also centrally based around the idea of contrast and opposites. She focuseson the separation of the sexes and the contrast of the space they are placed in. Thewomen are in a timeless natural environment, while the men are shown in a manmaderestricting environment. She has contrasted the men and the women in relation toculture and nature. (Schmitz, 2005) “Man is related to culture: the mind, the rationaland order. Woman is related to nature: the soul, the irrational and the primitive”(Zaya, 2005, p.22) to exaggerate these opposites Neshat uses the energy of themasses. Once again the viewer is forced to become stand between these twoopposites; they become the editor and participate with the piece. They are in themiddle “two opposites and segregated worlds with different rhythms that recogniseand ignore one another, that advance and retreat without apparent reconciliation.”(Zaya, 2005, p.21) Rapture displays the world of opposites and contrasts that exist in