LECTURES

Muslim Women in the Arts
Stories of Home: The Iranian Woman Immigrant Experience
Featuring: Niloofar Ziae and Mitra Shavarini

On the eve of International Women's Day, AIC's “Muslim Women in the Arts Series” includes as its latest installment a discussion with artist Niloofar Ziae and author and university lecturer Dr. Mitra Shavarini on their experiences as Iranian female immigrants to the US. As part of the evening, Ziae’s artwork will be exhibited and Shavarini will read from her new memoir “Desert Roots.” Tea and dessert provided.

Free and Open to the Public | Persian Tea and Dessert Served

"Home & Away: Shared Narratives of Gendered Identity is a unique arts and culture series spotlighting the work of four Boston-based female artists from Iran, Pakistan, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia."

The series aims in part to address a lack of exhibits by contemporary Muslim artists in Boston’s galleries and museums, a void that reinforces the perception that Muslim art is limited to calligraphy and rugs. In fact, Boston is home to a vibrant scene of stereotype-shattering artistic innovators from across the Muslim world. “Home and Away” showcases four diverse examples of this new paradigm of artist: female, of Muslim heritage, and shaped by complex hybrid identities - some with a hidden Jewish heritage, others with seemingly contradictory roots (e.g. Mecca and New Mexico). The shapes, colors, textures, and subject matter provides insight beyond words, offering a window into the past, and a microcosmic view of the issues and experiences that shape so many women today.