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From the labyrinth of an ancient story that finds its roots in the age-old oral traditions of the Middle East, Scheherazade of \u201c1001 Nights\u201d is famed as the world\u2019s best storyteller. She is not only a feminist, but also an eloquent philosopher who uses her art to humanize Shahryar and put an end to his lunatic bloodbath. With innate precision, she weaves her tale each night so that they are at a crucial juncture just as the day breaks. Starting with instances of misogyny, jealousy, violence and cruelty in hopes that the king would face his flaws; her heroines gradually become diverse and varied: they are no damsels in distress– intelligent, free-willed and decisive, they come from a cross section of society. They trade and travel, nurture their children, have passionate sex and make decisions that shape their destiny.<\/p>\n
Scheherazade is a fearless feminist, fully aware of her capability and the healing effect of her stories. There is a famous saying, \u201cIf any women ever finish all the stories of the 1001 Nights, she would drop dead\u201d.<\/p>\n
1001 Nights is considered one of the weirdest collection of legends in the world. From its origin in India with its magnificent spiraling legends, the book is traced to Iran and finally the Arabs give the final touch. How skillfully have the stories been woven over the millennia – while they weave within them the cultures of their roots. And just like these tales, my roots are spread across different countries: with my mother from Tanzania (with traces of Indian and Arabic in her with a distinct Swahili language) and my father from Iran, I spent a lot of my growing years in Arab Countries. I firmly believe that this book, with its rich stories, fascinating character and depiction of diverse cultures, languages and beliefs has the capability to transcend magnificently into this project.<\/p>\n
This movie\u00a0is\u00a0influenced by \u201c1001 Nights\u201d stories and draws inspirations from the character Scheherazade and try magnifies the shared emotional burden of women as a whole. Chen and I exchange some letters (which I used them inside the film)\u00a0related to female forbidden art, forbidden book, forbidden power…\u00a0 and tried to show how some women like\u00a0Scheherazade,\u00a0Claudia\u00a0Rankine or\u00a0Theresa Hak Kyung\u00a0Cha break taboos.<\/p>\n
In The first chapter\u00a0I merged my portrait photography\u00a0with photos from the news and social media using the double exposure technique.\u00a0In the\u00a0second\u00a0chapter, “Worry 2” with fabric being the core element of my photography, I represented a classical portrait of Scheherazade and tried to signify the discovery of women hide in invisibility, with sound of women reading 1001 nights book in background as a prohibited book.<\/p>\n
The series gradually shifts to add different dynamics into\u00a0photography such as household items to represent domestic women and masked figures to symbolize modernity, while revealing more of the women\u2019s bodies.<\/p>\n
In “Worry 3\u201d\u00a0with the idea of bridging technology into\u00a0art, I used a light painting technique in photography to included images of robot appendage.\u00a0 What you see in the screen during the last chapter is censored words from poetry in 1001 nights book.<\/p>\n
Finally, the movie end with my photography of an\u00a0African\u00a0American woman sinking with Claudia Rankine voice, reading Citizen in the\u00a0background.<\/p>\n
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Asma Khoshmehr To watch the full video, please use this link. From the labyrinth of an ancient story that finds its roots in the age-old oral traditions of the Middle East, Scheherazade of \u201c1001 Nights\u201d is famed as the world\u2019s best storyteller. She is not only a feminist, but also an eloquent philosopher who uses … Continue reading Letter to Her (student project)<\/span>