A Conversation with Shirin Neshat

The Henry is proud to host this program with celebrated artist Shirin Neshat, who is in Seattle for the U.S. premiere of her film Looking for Oum Kulthum (2017) at the Seattle International Film Festival. Two of Neshat’s photographs were recently on view in our exhibition The Time. The Place: Contemporary Art from the Collection.

Shirin Neshat will talk with UW faculty Samad Alavi (NELC) and Sonal Khullar (Art History) about Looking for Oum Kulthum. Born in 1957 in Qazin, Iran, Neshat is a contemporary Iranian visual artist who has done work in film, art, and photography. She left Iran before the 1979 Revolution and began studying at the University of California, Berkeley. Her films tend to be abstract and left to interpretation, revolving around themes of gender, identity, and society. Her artwork has been included at the Tate Gallery in London, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. She currently lives and works in New York.

You can purchase tickets for the screenings of Looking for Oum Kulthum at www.siff.net.

SATURDAY, MAY 19 6:00 PM | Lincoln Square

SUNDAY, MAY 20 11:00 AM | AMC Pacific Place

Samad Alavi is Assistant Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Civilization at the University of Washington. Sonal Khullar is Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Washington. SIFF-Iranian Film Initiative is organized by a committee led by NELC faculty Shahrzad Shams and consists of community members from among Friends of NELC Persian and Iranian Studies Program.