Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/496780
CULTURED 139 PORTRAIT COURTESY OF THE HIRSHHORN MUSEUM; LARRY BARNS; CYNTHIA PRESTON; © SHIRIN NESHAT COURTESY GLADSTONE GALLERY, NEW YORK AND BRUSSELS; PORTRAIT (NESHAT) © RODOLFO MARTINEZ SHIRIN NESHAT ON TURNING TO THE ISLAMIC WORLD FOR INSPIRATION Why have you addressed issues in the context of the Muslim world when so much of contemporary art is about abstraction? I think my art is also about abstraction and is highly conceptual, but perhaps being born an Iranian, my work never seems to be able to depart from political reality. Why do you think your work resonates in the western world? I'm not sure but possibly because while the work is ethnically specific, its emotional and allegorical style has an impact that transcends cultural and religious backgrounds. To what degree are your art forms known in the Muslim world, and what has been the impact there? I must say that to my surprise, with the help of the Internet and social media, more people in the Middle East know about my art than I could have expected. More interesting is my film, Women Without Men, has been seen more widely than my art because of the accessibility of DVDs. —BM Shirin Neshat's Rapture Series (top) is one of the works on view at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C.