Elham Doust, Iranian grad student and teaching associate of a Digital Art and Design Foundations course, curated the exhibition In Solidarity with the Brave Women of Iran, in celebration of International Women’s Day.
The exhibition – displayed on the first floor of the Edith O’Donnell Arts and Technology Building – features paintings, sculptures and media art created by Iranian artists and 20 large prints of photographs. The prints show widely-circulated images of the most significant moments of the Iranian uprising led by women that launched in September 2022.
“For most Iranians, if they see any of these pictures, they’ll know exactly where the photo was taken and what was happening at that moment,” Doust said. “The topic of all of these images are women in Iran. The women’s head covering was one of the first topics that started this revolution. That’s why this revolution is very integrated with women’s issues, along with other issues in the community.”
Doust’s exhibit launched on March 8 in conjunction with a film screening about the Iranian Women’s revolution.
The presentation was a joint effort with Iranian Scholars for Liberty, an international group of scholars from higher education institutions, that screened the film in celebration of International Women’s Day in over 50 universities around the world.
“Iranian Scholars for Liberty was the initial motivator for this event and provided the images and descriptions,” Doust said. “Hazhir Mahmoodi Nasrabadi, the president of The Iranian Student Community at UTD and one of the council members of Iranian Scholars for Liberty has played a key role in organizing the Solidarity event while assisting with the exhibition coordination and working closely with me. There are other students helping me, but I’m not sure if they want to be named because some of them might want to go back to Iran sooner or later.”
The exhibition In Solidarity with the Brave Women of Iran will run throughout March.