Journal of Woman in Culture and Arts

Journal of Woman in Culture and Arts

Orientalism and Neo-Orientalism in the Contemporary Art of Middle Eastern Women A Study of the Exhibitions of Breaking the Veils (2002) and She Who Tells a Story (2013)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
Mohammadreza Moridi 1
Soheila Ebadifar 2
1 Assistant Professor, Department of Art Research, Tehran University of Arts, Tehran
2 Graduate Student, Faculty of Art and Architecture, Islamic Azad University of Tehran
10.22059/jwica.2021.320978.1573
Abstract
Women artists from Muslim societies and Middle East are confronted with visual clichés of “being a woman”, “being a Muslim” and “Middle Easterner”. In art exhibitions and events, such artworks that reproduce the stereotypes of re-orientalism and Neo-Orientalism are welcomed. After the September 11 attacks, the number of art exhibitions dealing with Middle Eastern women increased. This was an opportunity for women artists to put their subjects in the spotlight of the public and the world media; on the other hand, women were confronted with some hidden expectations and stereotypes perpetuated by Western art events, so these events tended to direct artistic experiences towards the Western stereotypes. In this paper, using the methodological approach of “event studies”, we examine some of the most important art events for the Middle East; we also focus on two exhibitions “Breaking the Veils” (2002, Greece) and “She who tells a story” (2013, USA), which took place with the aim of rethinking stereotypes. The results showed that the works of the female artists of Middle East can be classified in a bipolar spectrum: from the image of women suffering from war, the repressed beauty of the countries of the Orient, the deplorable oppression of women, to the image of resilient and strong women. At both ends of this spectrum, from the passive victim woman to the rebel and anti-tradition activist, are diverse works covering a wide range of topics. Women artists are looking for a way to both critique the limitations of patriarchal culture and overcome the reductionist and exotic expectations of women’s art. This difficult path must be taken against the expectations of the art market and the political expectations of art exhibitions.
Keywords
Women Artists
Middle East
Arab Artists
Muslim Women
Art Exhibitions
Event Studies
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Journal of Woman in Culture and Arts
Volume 13, Issue 1
Spring 2021
Pages 91-113