Shirin Neshat is an Iranian born artist/filmmaker living in New York. Neshat’s early photographic works explored the question of gender in relation to Islamic fundamentalism and militancy with the series Women of Allah (1993-97). Her subsequent installations departed from overtly political content in favor of more poetic imagery and narratives. Neshat has held numerous solo exhibitions at galleries and museums internationally, including the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam; the Serpentine Gallery in London; Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin; the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, and the Musee d’Art Contemporain de Montreal. She was included in the Whitney Biennial (2000), Documenta XI (2002) and Prospect.1 New Orleans (2009). She was awarded the Golden Lion Award at the 48th Venice Biennale (1999); the Grand Prix of the Kwangju Biennial in Korea (2000); the Hiroshima Freedom Prize (2005), and the Lillian Gish Prize (2006). Neshat's first feature-length film, Women Without Men, received the Silver Lion Best Director Award in the 66th Venice International Film Festival (2009). She is currently working on her second feature length film based on the life and art of the legendary Egyptian singer Oum Kalthoum. A major retrospective of Neshat’s work will be at the Detroit Institute of Arts in 2013. Neshat is represented by Gladstone Gallery in New York City.

Shirin Neshat will also participate in a Panel Discussion with UC Berkeley scholars on Wednesday, March 20 at 4:00 pm in the Geballe Room, 220 Stephens Hall.

This event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required for entry. Free, general admission tickets will be available at the door one hour before the event on a first come, first served basis. Neshat's presentation in the Museum Theater is made possible thanks to a collaboration with the UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.