Yasamin Moshirabadi

"Iranian Shaal"

Section MS2, Kelly Spanou

Keywords:

The work ‘Iranian Shaal’ sources images from banners and phrases displayed on walls and streets during the protests in Iran in order to form a ‘Shaal' that instigates a discussion regarding the ongoing struggles of Iranian people. The decision to capture images in London, rather than in Iran, speaks to the risks involved and the essence of my work. If these images were seen in Iran, it could lead to arrest. This careful choice highlights how sensitive the project is and the difficulties in freely expressing disagreement or criticism. It also points to the challenges in dealing with the important issues that this project is focused on. The collated images underwent a meticulous process involving printing onto paper and subsequent transfer onto A4 calico fabric through the application of the gel medium image transfer technique. Subsequently, employing machine stitching, 33 distinct fabric pieces were intricately affixed to one another, culminating in the formation of a Shaal, or scarf. These images are stitched together and have multilingual captions in both Farsi and English.