(Photo on Right:Rebellious Silence, Sherin Neshat,  http://signsjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/neshat-thumbnail.jpeg)

The Dutch Model in the photo on the left, Aniek, was able to help me make this parody of the original photo Rebellious Silence by Shirin Neshat. She is posing in manner that inverts the original photograph. The language is changed from Arabic to Dutch, and the words in Dutch speak about living in a world of magic and wonder. There is also a wand instead of a gun to align with the words of the text. My reinterpretation is more of a parody and plays with the color scheme and also makes light of the theme rather than attempt to recreate the serious tone of the original. Photoshop was used to create some of the image, such as the words on the face of the model.

The original photo by Neshat is a statement about the suppression of women in the Middle East. The weapon in the image makes a statement about the violence or violent context that some women must exist in due to their cultures. The veil, text and weapon all obscure our vision of the woman in the image, perhaps in a similar way that women are suppressed and excluded from some aspects of society. As an artist, Neshat has the unique opportunity to make protest-like statements about the state of society through her platform. The reinterpretation of the photograph is meant to be more of a practical contrast to the color and format of the original rather than making a statement like the original.

References

Young, Allison. n.d. Shirin Neshat, Rebellious Silence, Women of Allah series. Khan Academy. (https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/global-contemporary/a/neshat-rebellious)