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This work is a collaboration with a photographer, Veronica Matlosz, in Columbia, SC, capturing scenes in the street and at school. I explore the concept of societal assumptions about my life experiences as an immigrant.
Spaghetti refers to a dish popular worldwide but established as an American staple in media. Also, it is seemingly integrated into the composition, symbolizing the intersection of cultural identity and the societal perception of outsiders. The juxtaposition of the figure with the chaotic surroundings emphasizes feelings of displacement and the struggle to find one’s place within a foreign context.
This series is my response to the dehumanization thrown onto women by the expectation that we act out this role of “femininity’’ all the moment.
How we identify ourselves based on the realization of visual binary culture is shaped before we tend to be. In scenes at home, in private moments, from childhood to adulthood, every movement we make, every thought we think, are evaluated by authorities. Besides, Politics produce this normalization of regulations that we live within society at large, the feeling of being consumed, and the power of visual culture about who we think we are and who the world would have us be. This feeling spreads throughout society, converting individuals and creating a culture that sexually objectifies the female body, making a steady traditional gender role to support expectations and influence.
Hooria Ghasemi – creator of Wearable sculpture
Mojtaba Akbari – Director of Photography
Shayan Javan – Photographer assistant
Creator and Performer: Nina Rastgar
This work serves as a reflection on the systemic suppression of women’s voices within the cultural and religious framework of my country. The depiction of three faceless and voiceless women blurred into an indistinguishable entity. This piece is a commentary on the misuse of religion, particularly Islam, as a tool of control and subjugation against its own people. The deliberate erasure of individuality and the silencing of voices represent the harsh reality experienced by many women in my society, where their identities and expressions are forcibly muted. By confronting these uncomfortable truths through art, I seek to initiate conversations and provoke introspection about the intersections of religion, gender, and power.
Photographer: Mojtaba Akbari,
Creator and Performer: Nina Rastgar.
Cloth Design and Creators: Mahyar Hemati and Nina Rastgar
Performers: Sedighe.M, Reyhaneh.F
I am you, and you are me; we are reflections of one another. These series reflect my understanding and awareness of the current zeitgeist.
We often ask ourselves: What happens to our freedom when every movement and expression is monitored? What space remains for individuals to exist beyond these imposed roles?
To explore these questions, I created a cube-shaped mask with mirrors on all sides, which was worn by my friend, Donya Daemi—a musician and psychology student. Wearing this mirrored mask, she walked through daily life, shopping and engaging in ordinary activities.For this project, I collaborated with Samaneh Vejdan as the cinematographer and editor. We chose a male-dominated market, a space where societal expectations are rigidly enforced. The mirrored mask acted both as a symbol and a tool, reflecting the gaze back at those who observed. I documented the public’s reactions through photography, capturing moments of surprise, discomfort, or curiosity.
Samaneh recorded a three-minute video, revealing how people reacted when confronted with their own reflections—offering a powerful commentary on societal norms and the discomfort of self-awareness.The images were captured for three consecutive days in Gilan, Rasht, while the performer moved with that mask on the streets, in the flea market, and in a crumbling house.
Photographer and Creator: Nina Rastgar, Performer: Donya Daemi, Video art: Samaneh Vejdan
This series represents the notable stigma in social patterns about how married and divorced women are viewed in Iran. The culture regards divorce as a failure of the woman to uphold her religious and cultural obligations successfully. Despite women’s legal access to the divorce process, it is a subject that is still frowned upon by most. This goes to show how the holy matrimony itself is a reflection of women’s traditional role. Conservative traditions and religious beliefs encourage married couples to make a longstanding, unbreakable tie. This custom within a patriarchal society creates a severe power imbalance, which leads to unfair treatment of divorced women in the courtroom and within the society at large, which are often viewed as disposable and deplorable.
November 30, 2019, when the Iranian government shut off internet access for all its citizens to restrict news of protests spreading globally. This blackout echoed the themes of collaborative performance, such as being watched by external and internal forces. It allowed us to know a lot of real feelings about our daily life in Iran, where we feel trapped. A performance that could finally fulfill our mental emptiness demonstrates our position about our atmosphere and expresses the limitations we regularly confront. We made two wooden boxes internally lined with mirrors, one with a light source inside and four peepholes on four sides of the box, allowing an individual to look at us from outside. To create a dreary atmosphere in the gallery space, we modified the space design with the lights on the ceiling. For four hours, we were boxed in, with oxygen decreasing every minute and our every move and act being watched by the audience.
