FINCHÉ NON SAREMO LIBERE
Brescia, Museo di Santa Giulia
November 10, 2023 – January 28, 2024
Exhibition views: © Stefano Tacchinardi and Alberto Mancini. Courtesy Fondazione Brescia Musei, Brescia
An exhibition promoted by Municipality of Brescia, Fondazione Brescia Musei, Alleanza Cultura
In collaboration with Associazione Genesi and Festival della Pace
Under the patronage of Amnesty International Italia and Associazione Maanà
Curated by Ilaria Bernardi
The exhibition constitutes the fourth act of the research that Fondazione Brescia Musei has dedicated to the theme ‘art and rights,’ taking place within the context of the Festival of Peace and part of the second edition of Progetto Genesi. Arte e diritti umani. It is a group show aimed to explore the dramatically topical issue of the condition of women in the world, with a particular focus on Iran.
By turning it into the feminine, the title of the exhibition reworks the title of the book Until We Are Free. IRAN my struggle for human rights (Bompiani, Milan 2016) by Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian lawyer and pacifist who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003.
The first section of the exhibition includes a nucleus of works by female artists from the Genesis Collection, consisting of contemporary artworks by artists from around the world who reflect on pressing, complex, and often dramatic cultural, environmental, social, and political issues of the day. Among the works on display, three will be by Iranian artists Shirin Neshat (1957) and Soudeh Davoud (1988).
The second and third sections are intended as monographic tributes to two historic Iranian artists, appreciated in the world’s most important museums and exhibited for the first time with a solo exhibition in Italy: Farideh Lashai (1944-2013) and Sonia Balassanian (1942). Therefore, not only young Iranian women artists, but also established names who, with a view to empowerment, can demonstrate how, despite the dramatic history of the country from which they come, they have largely succeeded in establishing themselves within the international art system, conveying a positive message of hope for other women artists from Iran and the rest of the world.
Two participative works by the young Iranian artist Zoya Shokoohi (1987) conclude the exhibition path.
Artists of two monographic tributes: Farideh Lashai and Sonia Balassanian.