mutualart.com: The Home of My Eyes: An Interview with Shirin Neshat
03 Apr 15
The Home of My Eyes: An Interview with Shirin Neshat
Features, Interviews: Natalie Hegert
On March 24, at the inaugural exhibition of YARAT Contemporary Art Space in Baku, Azerbaijan, visitors will undoubtedly cluster in front of a grand series of black-and-white portraits, rendered with fine ink and stark contrast. In them: the faces of their fellow Azeri countrymen. Acclaimed Iranian artist Shirin Neshat, commissioned on behalf of YARAT, set out to make a “portrait of a country,” reflecting a unified vision of diversity, in the heterogeneous citizens of a city at the crossroads between contemporary Turkey, Russia, Iran, Armenia, and historical Persia, Albania, and the Ottoman Empire. The result is a tapestry of faces, portraits of over 50 individuals of varying ethnicities, from two to eighty years old. Neshat interviewed each subject about their connection to Azerbaijan, their concept of “home,” and their heartfelt responses are written in lines of detailed calligraphy overlaying their portraits.
The first contemporary art center of its kind in Azerbaijan, YARAT opens with “Shirin Neshat: The Home of My Eyes,” as well as an exhibition of its permanent collection, running from March 24 to June 23. The not-for-profit center has commissioned over 80 projects since its founding in 2011; its new permanent space will serve as project space and exhibition hall, as well as offering a library, auditorium, and study center focused on art education for the region.
