Hope 2021
Video installation, sound, color, (0.02.19),
Distance 2018
Video installation,three large screens, sound, color, (0.06.43)
Distance is a video-performance exploring the recurring nightmare of being lost in endless staircases, desperately seeking an escape. It raises questions about reality, dreams, and our relationship with time. During the performance, I endlessly run through the stairs, evoking a sense of fleeing and fear. The installation features three large screens, immersing spectators in this mysterious universe.
Nazanin 2017
Short film, Persian language, stereo sound, color, (0.14.40) Music : Said Tinat
Oniros Film Awards, which is a IMDb qualifying competition, finalist with the film Nazanin
London Feminist Film Festival, with the short film Nazanin, London, England
Nazanin is a short film inspired by the true story of a friend of mine residing in Iran. It addresses the situation of women in Iran, highlighting the dual constraint they face, both from restrictive laws in the country and the weight of traditions. In the film, the viewer witnesses a telephone conversation between two friends, one in Iran and the other in France, without seeing the actual protagonists. This absence symbolizes the physical and emotional distance between these two friends. The temporal and spatial segmentation of the dialogue, along with the juxtaposition of two perspectives, from within and outside the situation, intensifies the dramatic tension. The camera’s unstable movements underscore the unsettling nature of the situation. Over the past four years, I have witnessed the deterioration of my friend’s personal situation, as a modern, educated, and independent woman who was forced into a marriage and compelled to give up her job, ultimately becoming a mother trapped within her own home, living in fear for her life. Indeed, I only had contact with her through phone calls before she eventually disappeared, like fog dissipating in the sky.
Women must be beautiful; women must be hidden (2017)
Video, black and white, stereo sound, (0.11.01)
In this work I question the situation of women in contemporary Iranian society.
In this work, I question the situation of women in Iran, who are subjected to sociopolitical constraints imposed by a religious and totalitarian regime. My performance consists of an exhausting repetition of gestures where I put on, take off, and put back on a black veil, symbolizing the suffering and memories associated with the imposition of the hijab and the deprivation of women’s freedom. The video includes a 1979 report on demonstrations for gender equality after the Iranian Revolution, as well as the voice of a woman arrested and handcuffed in 2016 for not complying with the law on mandatory veiling. Although Iranian women represent the majority of university students, they do not have the same rights as men, especially in terms of work, divorce, travel, and inheritance, of which the mandatory wearing of the hijab is a symbol.
Jean-Paul Fargier, Chroniques en movement, Marseille 2018, Turbulences Video, n°102, 2019 :
“And what about women in this cruel, unjust, seemingly unchangeable world? There are many of them here, expressing their revolt, and that is enough. First and foremost, they must tirelessly voice what oppresses them. One of them, Paryah Vatankhah, repeatedly puts on and takes off her veil in a loop that seeks only to be undone by the successive uprisings carried in a soundtrack of the clamor of demonstrations in Iran against the absolutism of the ayatollahs. Women must be beautiful. Women must be hidden. Let these veils fall quickly and let the time of free faces come.”
The Circle (2016)
Video installation, three screens, in loop, color, stereo sound, (0.11.01)
“The Circle” offers a reflection on the perception of the world and life, as well as our existential journey on the path of exile. The video portrays an endless tunnel, juxtaposed with the image of my performance where I spin around myself, reminiscent of the Sufi dance that reflects my Iranian origin. The installation consists of three large-scale videos projected in a dark space, immersing the viewer in an atmosphere of anxiety and suffocation, submerging them in a perpetually moving world around them.
As I entered this tunnel, I was captivated by its seemingly never-ending length. This made me reflect on life, on the path that we are forced to traverse without truly knowing the destination, much like my experience as an exiled Iranian woman, which makes me particularly sensitive to the geopolitical exile situation of individuals fleeing life-threatening circumstances.
Noiseless trouble (2015)
Video Installation, three screens, in loop, color, stereo sound (0.03.15)
The photography series “Noiseless Trouble” sheds light on the complex relationships between history, identity, and memory. It explores how significant historical events in contemporary Iran have influenced my existence, leaving an indelible imprint on my being. In this series, I undertake an act of archiving and reclaiming historical documents. The images are then projected onto my body, emphasizing the vulnerability of individuals’ lives and personal spheres in the face of historical violence. As these images overlap with my body, my existence is touched, and at times even erased, while my identity blends under the influence of this history.
By staging this projection of images onto my body, my aim is to provoke deep reflection on how collective experiences can alter our identity and our relationship with the world.
Nightmare (2013)
Video installation, two screens, in loop, color, stereo sound, (0.04.10)
In this video, I engage in a process of reappropriation of images found in the media and social networks, combining them with photographs I have taken myself during a confrontation between two spaces: Iran and France. My aim is to explore the differences between these two countries in terms of individual and social freedom, as well as respect for human rights.
I am present in the video dressed in black, symbolizing my state of mourning for the lives lost during these protests. The overlay of dark images from the 2009 Green Movement protests in Iran onto the calm ambiance of my life in France, along with the use of a reversed sound of a poem I wrote myself about political violence in Iran, contributes to reinforcing the feelings of anxiety and oppression conveyed by this artwork.
Inevitable (2011)
Video, color, stereo sound, (0.03.08)
The video “Inévitable” explores the situation of oppression and religious violence experienced by Iranian women. I am particularly interested in evoking the sorrow that arises when they are forced to conceal their true identities. This suffering manifests in a constant back and forth between the private and public sphere, a reality that Iranian women must endure due to arbitrary laws such as the obligation to wear the veil and the lack of freedom in all aspects of their lives, whether personal or public. Through this video, my aim is to shed light on these tensions and provoke reflection on the effects of these constraints on women’s lives in Iran. Allegorically, the video unveils the suffering through a vertical camera movement, starting with my joyful face and then descending towards my body as I sit on my own blood.