March 17 – 30

Reception: Wednesday, March 19, 6-9pm

Location: Gallery 7, Humanities Building, 7th Floor, 455 N Park St, Madison, WI

It all started when I was six years old, on the very first day of kindergarten. I was so excited to put on my uniform and get ready to go when my mother suddenly pulled a black piece of cloth over my head—like a sack. It was my first Hejab. She didn’t ask if I wanted to wear it. She didn’t ask if I liked the color. She didn’t even warn me. I don’t blame my mum, because she did what she was asked to do. My hair was no longer visible. I felt a tightness around my throat, as if I were being choked. It was suffocating. I felt ugly. I arrived at kindergarten and saw that every girl in my class was also wearing a black sack on her head. From that day on, I had to wear it every single day. Next year, I was about to start first grade in elementary school, the color of the school uniform and the sack changed, but I was still required to wear it. This continued every year, and it was no longer mandatory only in school; it became mandatory in all public spaces.

As a young girl, I did not have the ability to question or resist. The mandatory Hejab hasn’t been just a matter of clothing; it has been a matter of control, of erasure, of violence—it represented a major shift in my childhood and my freedom of expression. My identity was shaped by this law, by this requirement. For years, I lived under the weight of a decision that was made for me. The state views women’s bodies as property, to be hidden, controlled, and policed by the law, and the Hejab is symbolic of that power.

Erasure is rooted in my traumatic experience as an Iranian woman, where even a single strand of hair can mean life or death. Through repetition, the image connects to countless women who feel the need to conceal their identities. Dedicated to the millions forced to wear the Hejab for over forty years, this work stands as a protest, a resistance, and a beacon of hope.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison Art MFA Qualifier Exhibition season continues with Fatemeh Fani’s art exhibition. The qualifier solo exhibitions are presented by the graduate students during their fourth semester as the evaluation review of their creative work to qualify for advancement in the MFA program. Come view the work and research by our newest cohort of developing artists!