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 enamored 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 humor 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.

Soheila Sokhanvari
Rebel Rebel
Fri 7 Oct 2022—Sun 26 Feb 2023
The Curve, Barbican Centre
Silk Street, London,EC2Y 8DS

PS To see more of Sokhanvari’s stunning art check out https://www.soheila-sokhanvari.com/