TEHRAN – Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (TMoCA) will host the exhibition “In Women’s Words,” which is dedicated to showcasing 121 works by modern Iranian women artists, from Wednesday.

Curated by Afsaneh Kamran, Toka Maleki, and Sajjad Baghban Maher, the exhibition will put on show works by artists such as Monir Farmanfarmaian, Behjat Sadr, Iran Darroudi, Parvaneh Etemadi, Farideh Lashai, and Leyly Matin Daftari, IRNA reported.

At a press conference for the exhibition, held on Sunday at the site of the museum, director of TMoCA Reza Dabirinejad said: “In this exhibition, we have tried to present a cohesive narrative of the presence of modern women artists in contemporary art from among the works collected at the museum’s treasured collection”.

“In the museum’s collection, 270 works by 65 modern women artists have been identified, and a selection of these, according to the space available, will be displayed in the ‘In Women’s Words’ exhibition,” he added.

“Today, women artists play an important role in Iran’s contemporary art scene. They are present at art auctions and exhibitions inside the country and at the international level. Since the establishment of the museum, we have never had a female director; therefore, Toka Maleki has been chosen as the honorary director of the museum for the official opening of the exhibition,” Dabirinejad noted.

“During the exhibition, the book of the women’s exhibition will also be unveiled. Additionally, we will hold research sessions and screen documentary films as side events of the exhibition. Their content will be published in various formats and made available to the public. We will also pursue virtualizing the exhibition,” he asserted.

Also speaking at the session, Toka Maleki, writer, researcher, and one of the exhibition’s curators, emphasized the importance of women’s position in Iranian visual arts, especially modern art, and said: “Writing the history of art without considering women’s perspectives is impossible. The viewpoints of women artists, and the angles from which they have looked at life, certainly complete the history of art”.

“We must also examine their similarities with the artistic behaviors of male artists. This does not mean gender segregation or exaggerating the role of women or hiding them, but rather re-reading the qualities that each artist’s work possesses, and without acknowledging them, this art history would undoubtedly remain incomplete,” she added.

Regarding the exhibition’s structure, she said: “The works of women artists in this event are divided into several sections; from pioneering women of modern art such as Shokouh Riazi, to portraiture, abstract art — with examples by Behjat Sadr and Monir Farmanfarmaian — and nature painting, which holds a special place among women painters. Overall, contemporary Iranian women’s art is presented in formats such as portrait, abstract nature, everyday life, neo-traditionalism, and social themes, in the mediums of painting, sculpture, photography, and video art”.

Afsane Kamran, writer, university lecturer, and another curator of the exhibition highlighted the importance of research in the field of visual arts, particularly the work of women artists and said: “In the side programs of this exhibition, various research sessions have been planned, aiming to examine the works of women artists from political, social, and interdisciplinary perspectives. I believe with this exhibition, the approach to studying the works of visual artists will shift from mere representation. We tried to address four thematic axes: the historiography of women’s art and their challenges, methods and media, experiences with media for women, and women artists, their profession, and their income”.

Further in the session, Sajjad Baghban Maher, museum curator and another curator of “In Women’s Words,” said: “In this event, 121 selected works by 65 artists will be shown, some of which have never been exhibited before. In addition, 14 exhibitions and events in the side programs will be held, featuring contemporary women artists’ works not present in the museum’s collection”.

The exhibition “In Women’s Words” will run for two months at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art.

SS/SAB