Way in Way Out.

Way in Way Out was part of the Women of Allah series that Neshat created right after her visit to Iran after being exiled due to the Islamic Revolution in 1979 (MET). There is a veiled woman in this piece, who looks to be praying with a gun positioned right next to her. There is Arabic calligraphy on her white veil, which reads: “Give a hand so I can hold a hand…” and this is perhaps a representation of the Iranian women and how the revolution had taken away from the meaning of being a woman in their own country. Shirin’s pieces were created in order to show the West of her own views of Iran and the events that had occurred, and using Arabic calligraphy helped express the idea that the women wanted to play a more significant role in Iran. This photograph, along with the whole series is all in black and white and when combined with the Arabic calligraphy, these photos look as if they belong in the newspaper, and this shows how Shirin is aware of the powerful role the media plays in showing the world of the significant events occurring, especially in her country. The woman in this image is in a white veil and is in a praying position, which expresses the purity and holiness of the woman but the gun lying next to her strongly contradicts this image of purity. It shows that although Iranian women are expected to behave a certain way and to remain somewhat anonymous especially when dealing with politics, there are many women who want their voices to be heard. The contradiction between the gun and the image of purity perhaps shows how the media only shows the world half of the story, which is the half they want the world to see. Shirin’s art is the other half of Iran’s story that the world is unable or even prevented from seeing.