... Mirrors With Doors

Western audiences are often puzzled by what they perceive as an aura of ambiguity in Iranian and eastern arts. The cultural signs can appear complex and often foreign.
Houshang Golshiri’s novel “ Aynehaye Dar Dar” inspired Mirrors  The unenhanced images reflect the inside of womens’ lives and feelings.

We observe our real selves in the mirror. We react intensely when we see the light in our own eyes. The people in my mirrors are all women. I recognize the purity and holiness as the traditional place of women but also the significant and secret place they hold in creating our  culture and history. While women’s’ influence is significant their thoughts have been imprisoned and they have been treated cruelly by the Iranian patriarchy.

The geranium flowerpots and clothes in these photographs refer to past traditions. Yet it was not very long ago that geraniums were used to decorate Iranian yards. Colourful clothes - means’ gifts to women, were kept in clothing chests to be worn only at suitable times. The scarves, the dark surroundings, veils represent the minimal position women have been forced to occupy. But it is simplistic to think that it is possible to put a veil on the thoughts of Iranian women and steal the light of intellect from their eyes.

Mina Momeni / 2008

... You Are Not Alone

From ancient times to today’s post modern world, women have been portrayed as complex and contradictory creatures – sometimes a sealed secret – a labyrinth once a symbol of goodness worthy of praise, she has also been demonized and condemned for craftiness.The dual view of womanhood has inspired a wealth of art throughout history -  a story interwoven in the mythology of all cultures.
 
The ancient myths and narratives feature the goddesses as symbols of life, love and bounty but also of playful and dire trickery. Inanna, the goddess of love was also a trickster who took control of the divine. And Anahita the water goddess brought fertility to the spring of the year – the mother of re-creation.
 
The innate and mysterious complexity of women is an ever present set of images across cultures.Together with wisdom and knowledge these images create a brilliant and multilayered if sometimes contradictory legacy. Unravelling the secret of this timeless tradition is only possible by approaching the art with an open t heart and mind.

Mina Momeni / Fall 2007