Possessed
Shirin Neshat
Iranian, born 1957
Details
Title
Possessed
Artist/Maker
Shirin Neshat (Iranian, born 1957)
Date
2001
Medium
16 mm and 35 mm film transferred to digital video
Dimensions
Projection size minimumn 12 feet in width
Credit
Purchase through funds provided by patrons of Collectors Evening 2019
Accession #
2019.189.1-3
Location
Currently not on view
Possessed is arguably one of Shirin Neshat’s most affecting work of art. The film's protagonist, played by actress Shohreh Aghdashloo, madly roams the streets of an Iranian city without wearing a hijab, the compulsory veil imposed upon women after the 1979 revolution. Muttering to herself, she is initially ignored until she ascends a platform where her private suffering becomes a public spectacle. As she shouts, the gathering crowd slowly takes on the violent traits of her madness. She then slips away unnoticed, leaving in her wake a mounting cacophony of violence. The conclusion of the film is ambiguous and unsettling: asking the viewer to consider, has she found freedom as her free-flowing hair would suggest, or does she represent a universal restlessness and discontent brought about by the geopolitical vicissitudes of contemporary world order?