Shirin Neshat Mourners from the Book of Kings

This catalogue was published within the context of Shirin Neshat exhibition curated by Heinz Peter Schwerfel that took place on May 10–June 15, 2013 at Dirimart Nisantasi.

Neshat’s “Mourners” from her The Book of Kings series, inspired by the epic Shahnameh by Ferdowsi (940-1020), are based on portraits of individuals residing in the slums of Cairo, where the promise of freedom and democracy following the uprising against the Mubarak regime failed to materialize.

Inscribed with Persian handwriting, the artist’s black and white portraits confront the viewer with human bodies that face a struggle against hegemony in this overly politicized region marked by covert violence and suppression.

Schwerfel writes, “This art, beyond the political engagement of Iran’s Green Movement and the mystique of the Arab Spring, is shaped by two opposing rhetorical systems that currently feud with each other on a global scale.”

Shirin Neshat’s works have been exhibited in museums such as Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Serpentine Gallery, London
Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin(Germany)
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis(USA)
Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal, Montreal(Canada)
Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit (USA)
She has held exhibitions at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC (USA)
She participated in the 48th Venice Biennial (1999); Whitney Biennial (2000); Documenta XI (2002); and Prospect 1 New Orleans (2009).

Awards she was granted are: Grand Prize at the Gwangju Biennial (2000);
the First International Award at the 48th Venice Biennale (1999);
Hiroshima Freedom Prize (2005); 
Dorothy and Lillian Gish Award (2006).

In 2009, Neshat made her first feature film titled Woman Without Men, and was awarded with Silver Lion prize for Best Director at the 66th Venice International Film Festival.
This is shown again at the Quad cinema New York in October 2019 .

Her feature film Looking For Oum Kulthum (2017) crafts a visually dazzling, multi-planed mirror between the mid-century Egyptian diva and the contemporary film director seeking a creative connection with her. It is being screened at important festivals all around the world.

Neshat’s current photo series include The Book of Kings (2012), Our House is on Fire (2013), and The Home of My Eyes (2015