Sohelia Sokhanvari Context Notes

Sohelia Sokhandvari: Rebel Rebel Contextual Research

sites.barbican.org.uk. (2022.). Soheila Sokhanvari: Rebel Rebel. [online] Available at: https://sites.barbican.org.uk/soheila-sokhanvari-rebel-rebel/index.html [Accessed 27 Oct. 2022].

28 different portraits of influential women from pre-revolutionary Iran.
Egg Tempura is used to paint the portraits, which is apparently an ancient technique (note: I really need to figure out what a Grammarly egg tempura is)
The pattern that marks the wall is inspired by traditional Islamic styles (note: considering the very liberal and anti-religious fundamentalist nature of the gallery, I’m a little surprised that the patterns are supposed to invoke ‘the greatness of God’ as well as ‘the vastness of the universe.’ However, there are many different groups of Islam, some of which are far more liberal than others)
According to this, it is now illegal for a woman to sing in public Iran, showing the extreme nature of the current political regime there.

After this introduction (which was the only information plaque in the gallery), there is also a large collection of biographies of the people depicted. I’ll read through them but I doubt I’ll need to cite them all in my essay, so I will just pick out a couple notable details.

The first woman depicted in the gallery is Roohangiz Saminejad, who stared in the first Iranian film with spoken words (The Lor Girl — 1933). She ended up changing her name and living a life away from the stage because of the conservative culture at the time. An interesting quote from her: ‘everyone wanted to kill you because a Muslim woman didn’t have the right to act. To step out of the studio we needed three bodyguards. What can I say? That’s why I let go of acting’.
Some of the photos shown in the exhibition guide of these women are used as direct references for the portraits. For example:
This woman in particular (Zinat Moadab) was forced into arrange marriage with a 44 year old when she was 14, but managed to get a divorce 3 years later. She couldn’t go back to school, so she got a lead role in the film ‘The Storm of Life.’ The film was a massive success, but it enraged her family so much that her half-brother whom she hadn’t met then tried to kill her multiple times. She became a successful radio broadcaster and actor, had 3 children, moved to the US, and is still alive and active today. This is one hell of a life story, and has one of the better endings of a lot of these people.
The beginning section said that many of these women had to either flee the country or remain out of the public eye to avoid prosecution by the Iranian government.
Another common theme is the family opposition to these women’s careers, to the degree that some had to work under pseudonyms (such as Pouran Shapoori, whose birth name is Farhdokht Abbasi Taghany).
Whilst the first example are actors, there are also many singers and writers amongst these people, showing the range of cultural icons during the period.
For Shohreh Aghdashloo, her marriage at 19 gave her the connections to enter the film industry. She then left Iran and her husband after the revolution to pursue a career in acting in the US (fun fact, she was in Star Trek beyond according to their wiki page).
Shahla Riahi was forced to repent her career after she was interrogated by the revolutionary government.
Many of these actors started their in their mid-teens, and some times they would be cut strikingly short by being forced into anonymity by culture/government or an accident early on. Some of them are lucky enough to have successful careers after the revolution. It is interesting to note that Googoosh—an Iranian singer—was allowed to leave the country 20 years after the revolution by the government. It reminds me of what happened to Nazanin Zagahari Radcliffe, who was imprisoned in Iran for 5 years. Here is a quote from Googoosh: ‘They tried hard to erase me – I mean, erase my name, erase my position, erase my songs, erase my face, erase the memory of me.’ Bootlegs of her albums circulated in a post revolution Iran.
Another interesting quote, this time from Simin Daneshvar (a writer): ‘I wish the world was run by women. Women who have given birth and know the value of their creation. They know the value of endurance, patience and monotony and not being able to do anything for themselves … if the world was run by women, there would be no wars.’
Upon googling these actors, many of them do not to appear to have nearly as much of an online presence as their impact and legacy may have had. Some of these people even end up dying in poverty or homelessness. If I were to try do more research on any of them individually it could prove difficult due to a lack of sources. I might have to do some library research instead, but I think I will focus the rest of my research on the history of the period instead.
Fakhri Khorvash was actually allowed to continue to act after the revolution in Iran, which is odd (especially odd considering she has been allowed to speak about women’s rights)
One actor (Azar Shiva) gave up acting entirely as a protest against the sexual exploitation of women in films, and decided to sell chewing gum outside the University of Tehran. According to this guide, female actors would go unpaid and be forced into erotic scenes that were not necessary for the story. Protests sexism as well as the conservative government tend to be a common theme amongst their life stories.
Forouzan was one of the best paid pre-revolutionary female actors, but it was because of her beauty she was highly sexualised in the roles she played. A quote from an interview in 1972 reads ‘I am sick, sore, and exhausted. I am tired of standing in front of the camera listening to the director telling me “be a little sexier, a little more lustful, bring your skirt higher, be a little more inciting and provocative.”’
Genderbending aspects are present here as well, with one dancer (Jamileh) apparently dancing in the masculine jâheli style.
The last few actors portrayed had particularly terrible endings to their lives (one remained homeless for decades, one became a drug addict and overdosed, and the last’s whereabouts are completely unknown).
The title ‘baptism of fire’ for the last piece is of particular note, as the actor (Nosrat Partovi) stared in the film ‘The Deer.’ During 1978, a cinema screening this film was locked with the people inside and burned, an event that helped kickstart the revolution (similar to the burning of Reichstag kickstarting the Nazi party’s control of Germany). According to the timeline, this leads to a mass protest and police firing on protestors, creating the ‘Black Friday’ massacre
They state at the end of the guide about how many of these people are unknown, and that they are still looking for information on many of them.

Next is a short section on the historical timeline. It’s already relatively condense so I’ll just leave notes on it rather than rewrite it.

Foreign powers (Britain in particular) have had a hand in the history of Iran, notably buying all of the country’s oil industry and backing the coups in 1923, 1941, 1953
When the centre-left democratic government decided to nationalise the oil, the British enforced an oil embargo, and helped the CIA with operation Ajax, thus toppling the democratic government
Political unrest and turmoil seemed to be brewing the entirety of the reign of the CIA backed government, showing the lack of foresight behind the plan.
It seems incredibly depressing the revolution ultimately lead to a more oppressive government than the one that was started.

Critique note: Whilst this whole thing highlights the negative impacts of the Iranian revolution and the conservative culture, I’m not sure if it quite gets across the sexism present within the media at the time as well, which clearly affected these women’s lives.

Reflection Note:

I find that my research is often not as efficient as I would like, as I often end up reading about related topics on Wikipedia or watching them on YouTube. Due to the fact that Wikipedia is ultimately an unreliable source, these excursions end up becoming a complete waste of time
After reading through the exhibition guide, I need to now take upload everything and see where my notes can take me from here, as I am unsure how to continue my research.
When I was uploading the initial notes to workflow, I did not take the time to find the names of all of the portraits (as all of the portrait names were not directly labelled in the gallery and I wanted to initially go in with a almost fresh interpretation of the pieces divorced from any additional context (that was a long sentence)). However, given the name ‘Baptism of Fire’ and the links it has with that final piece, I may decide to look at the names of the ones in particular I am researching.
I think to finish off my research, I will look at the current events in Iran, as well as the links between William Morris and these portraits, as a friend pointed out how his style of patterning is used in a few of the pieces. I also will do some more research on Egg Tempura, as it is another blind spot in my knowledge. I feel as if I have suitable knowledge on the political events on the time, and this collection of pieces isn’t really a geopolitical one.

(Saw this and thought it could be interesting: https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2022/event/young-barbican-night-rebel-rebel-0)

Part Deux

‘Live fire used again’ as Iran protests swell. (2022). BBC News. [online] 27 Oct. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-63410577 [Accessed 28 Oct. 2022].

3 demonstrators killed in protests against Iranian government
Masha Amini died in police custody after she was arrested by the ‘morality’ police for wearing her headscarf “improperly”
According to this article, this is the greatest challenge to the government’s power in its history, and that this is the widest protests the country has seen
An Iran Human Rights group says 234 protestors (including 29 children) have been killed by the Iranian government in the protests
Protests sweeping multiple cities simultaneously
BBC and non-state media are banned from reporting in Iran, so it is difficult to get accurate sources
The internet has been disrupted by the government there

This is definitely a hopeful end for the piece, as it feels as if the movement of liberalism and women’s rights are once again growing in Iran.

ArtWeb Blog. (2020). Egg tempera: what it is, how to use it and a brief history. [online] Available at: https://blog.artweb.com/how-to/egg-tempera-medium/ [Accessed 28 Oct. 2022].

It’s somewhat depressing I don’t already know what this is but oh well
Egg tempera is egg yolk (the yellow bit) + some water and pigments
It ‘glows’ as the coloured component is somewhat transparent, allowing light through to the white ‘gesso’ to reflect and thus give off more light.
Very old form of painting (likely because of how easy it is to get the basic ingredients), and was first used for life-like Egyptian portraits from 100 BC
Dries quickly, cannot be layered, so is best for detailed work (thus why all the portraits are miniature)
Also used to paint ‘The Birth of Venus’—it was a widely used renaissance medium

It’s a medium that makes sense considering that you want to capture the detail in the characters as well as have so many of them in the same place. It also allows you to have the Islamic pattern take up most of the room and create that sense of vastness that was wanted. Other mediums could have worked, but the paintings would have needed to be much larger and may not have gotten across the same level of character. The ‘glow’ that egg tempera gives off combined with the array of lights in the ceiling gives all of the icons a glow to themselves, as if their personalities are emanating from the canvas.

V&A (2017). V&A · Introducing William Morris. [online] Victoria and Albert Museum. Available at: https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/introducing-william-morris [Accessed 28 Oct. 2022].

‘Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful’ is a pretty good William Morris quote that sums up his philosophy on design
Lived a fairly privileged life that allowed him to focus on his art
Greatly disliked machine-based design, and enjoyed a natural look for objects and patterns.
Joined a group at Oxford called ‘The Set’, which focused on romantic ideals in art.
Set up an interior decorating company with his friends to make hand-crafted items that did not fit the industrial ideals of the time.
Some of his wallpapers are inspired by English gardens and hedgerows
He researched historical techniques for printing and dyeing, which helped add to the hand-crafted feel
He continued selling fabrics, wallpapers and designs for rugs, carpets, embroidery and tapestry
Also he wrote poems and did designs for texts, such as for Chaucer

Whilst this source has given me some somewhat useful information, it isn’t really 100% relevant to what I am studying, and it felt like I was just copying down what I was seeing rather than properly making notes and understanding it. I fear I may have spent too long on research today and that I will not get a chance to start writing, but I will finish off this research, plan out the essay, and then upload it onto workflow.

williammorrissociety.org. (2022). The William Morris Society» A Place in Pattern. [online] Available at: https://williammorrissociety.org/past-exhibitions/online-exhibitions [Accessed 28 Oct. 2022].

Discusses the primary themes of Islamic art, that being Geometry, Floral Imagery, and Arabic Calligraphy
Many of William Morris’s patterns are floral in nature (such as the carpet in my parents living room)

This helps explain the reasoning for many of the patterns of William Morris amongst these portraits. It could also be metaphorical, in the sense that many of these women blended the ideas of Islam with the freedom of expression associated with the western world.

Invaluable. (2020). The Symbolic Meaning of Key Patterns and Motifs in Islamic Art. [online] Available at: https://www.invaluable.com/blog/islamic-art-patterns/ [Accessed 28 Oct. 2022].

Defined as ‘Any art produced when Islam was the main religion.’
The direct creation of living beings is not depicted, and instead god is depicted through idols and images in their place
Same motifs as in the William Morris source
Floral designs used in place of depicting humans, and are used to symbolise growth and life. Specific plants also have specific meanings attached to them.
“Arabesque” is the idea of geometric and interlacing patterns within floral designs
Lots of Calligraphy is focused on verses of the Qur’an, and about praising and remembering god rather than focusing on them being as a living being.
Lots of geometric patterns in general, as they are used to create a sense of unity and complexity and infinity within our world (which is why they are used in the gallery to create the sense of ‘The Vastness of the Universe.’

Doing some analysis on different artistic motifs will definitely help with my critique, as that way I will be able to analyse the piece much better. I’m not sure where else to look for this kind of motif-based research, but I think that doing some has definitely been very beneficial.

Overall Reflections:

I feel like I definitely have enough points to be able to write a short essay, with enough information to be able to write a decent enough essay (I’ve written 5000 words in notes for 1000 words in writing)
I feel like I should have focused more of my research on the artistic motifs within the piece initially instead of spending so much time on context, but I believe that both have been useful
I think in future I will try to spend more time researching at the library due to the greater number of sources available to me, even if I may not necessarily be any more productive there than I am here at home (well, a little more productive but it doesn’t matter too much now does it?).

Essay plan?

Paragraph 1: talking about entering the exhibition and the tone that the monolith sets for the whole experience

Paragraph 2: talk about the slow gradual changes between the early paintings into explosions of colour

Paragraph 3: Talk about how the medium fits the work, and how the different portraits help convey their personalities, and how they always feel like they are controlling the scene

Paragraph 4: Discuss the context for the work, and how it isn’t properly conveyed within the piece (link to the baptism of fire and the

Paragraph 5: discuss current political situation in Iran, and ‘The Star’ + ‘The Baptisim of Fire’ and how they both convey a sense of hope for the future

Critical Review: Rebel Rebel

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