Rebel Rebel, the first major UK commission by Iranian artist Soheila Sokhanvari, celebrates and commemorates feminist icons from pre-revolutionary Iran.
Sokhanvari transforms the Curve into a devotional space, populated with exquisite miniature portraits of glamorous cultural figures from Iran. The project spotlights the rarely told histories of these women, who pursued creative careers in a culture enamoured with Western style but not its freedoms.
The immersive space will be hand-painted floor to ceiling with geometric patterns based on traditional Islamic design. A soundtrack, composed by Marios Aristopoulos features songs by iconic Iranian singers from the period. The exhibition culminates with extravagant mirrored sculptures featuring internal projections drawn from Filmfarsi.
With humour and verve, Rebel Rebel explores the contradictions of Iranian women’s lives between 1925 and the 1979 revolution – an explosive period of both liberation and commodification that proved short lived.
The exhibition has been commissioned by the Barbican, and is generously supported by the Bagri Foundation, Arts Council England, and the Soheila Sokhanvari Exhibition Circle: Marie Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre (Spirit Now London), Sayeh Ghanbari, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, Elizabeth and J. Jeffry Louis, Pat and Pierre Maugüé, Hugh Monk, and those who wish to remain anonymous. Paint courtesy of Little Greene.
With thanks
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Soheila Sokhanvari exhibition guide
Your guide to Rebel Rebel including a full list of artworks and the stories behind them.
Studio Visit: Soheila Sokhanvari
“You have to love to be able to paint, so I feel like I had to love these women in order for me to paint them.”
We caught up with multimedia artist Soheila Sokhanvari in her studio.
Soheila Sokhanvari: Rebel Rebel public programme
Learn more about Soheila Sokhanvari, Iran, and the women whose lives inspired the exhibition. Take your pick from film screenings, talks, curator tours and more.
