Shirin Neshat: Afterwards

In her work, Shirin Neshat bears witness to the capacity of human beings to simultaneously build and destroy what constitutes them and their civilizations. Combining poetic visuals and textual language that reveal the paradoxes of beauty and violence, the artworks displayed in Mathaf’s galleries propose different perspectives on these collective histories. The contrasts and dissonant rhythms created between the individual works are part of the exhibition’s layout, with the viewer experiencing a succession of powerful images and emptier spaces. The exhibition is structured on a binary layout 01010, with additional works in between spaces, and it features existing and newly produced works. These include the photographic series Neshat produced in the early 1990s and two video installations that address the historical, cultural, and political realities on which the artist has focused for the past thirty years. In the photographic series, Women of Allah (1993-97), the artist expresses her position on the situation in Iran following the Islamic Revolution in 1979. In her more recent series, The Book of Kings (2012) and Our House is on Fire (2013), Neshat responds to political events throughout the Arab world, capturing the emotions of people she met after the Arab Spring.

I was the lead designer in this exhibition. I worked alongside the curator, Abdellah Karroum, and the Shirin Neshat to create maquettes, layouts, circulation, and lighting design. I supervised the fit-out team and ensured a timely deliver in accordance with design.