A Show of Strength by Middle Eastern Women Photographers

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By KERRI MACDONALD

"Untitled" (1993) by Shadi Ghadirian

MASSACHUSETTS---“She Who Tells a Story” opens at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston this week. Four of the artists included are Iranian; three — [Newsha] Tavakolian, Gohar Dashti and Shadi Ghadirian — live and work in Iran today. The exhibit also highlights work by Jananne Al-Ani, Boushra Almutawakel, Rana El Nemr, Lalla Essaydi, Tanya Habjouqa, Rula Halawani, Nermine Hammam, Rania Matar and Shirin Neshat, the fourth Iranian artist, who lives in New York. The phrase “She Who Tells a Story” comes from the word rawiya (which is also the name of a collective of female photographers working in the Middle East). But the exhibit doesn’t tell one story; it tells many. [link] 

Museum of Fine Arts in Boston: “She Who Tells a Story: Women Photographers from Iran and the Arab World” (Opening Tuesday through Jan. 12). Avenue of the Arts, 465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA. 617-267-9300 or mfa.org