April 7 – 12
Reception: Friday, April 10, 5-8pm
Location: Backspace Gallery, Art Lofts, 111 N Frances St, Madison, WI
A social documentary photographer born in Iran and currently living in the United States of America, Fatemeh Fani’s research on women, sexual minorities, ethnic minorities, religious minorities, and immigrants expresses how in traditional societies and developing countries these groups encounter restrictions, discrimination, and social injustice as they are deprived of fundamental rights and freedom of expression. As a recent woman immigrant to the US, she documents the essence of America through the lens of an outsider—an outsider coming from an islamic country with a distinct cultural background.
Using archival ID photography, Fani explores the compulsory hijab law and the extreme violence it inflicts on women in Iran. Her artwork is meant to speak to the public and to those who have never lived this experience, to conscientiously raise awareness and draw attention to the restrictions, discrimination, and violence in her home country. Shortly after Fani’s immigration to the US, a 22-year-old Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, was killed by the Islamic regime for not wearing a proper hijab. Amini was not the first to suffer this fate—this has been ongoing every day in Iran since the Islamic Revolution in 1977 when the leader of the Islamic regime Ayatollah Khomeini declared women cannot show up in public without wearing a hijab. The lack of media platforms, censored by the Islamic Republic or silenced by foreign media, leaves the world unaware of these horrifying crimes taking place. Fani’s art is that of protest, advocacy, resistance, and hope through the goal of raising awareness. By depicting how a simple object, a scarf, loses its primary function and turns into a means of violence, murder, rape, suppression, and oppression, her project aims to bring light to the painful realities regarding compulsory hijab laws and the impact on Iranian women.
Fatemeh Fani is a Master of Fine Arts student in the photography area at UW-Madison.
The Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibitions season continues with Fatemeh Fani’s exhibit رخ لى يروا Dance of Defiance. The MFA Thesis Exhibitions mark the culmination of a three-year degree program that emphasizes development of a rigorous studio art practice under the supervision of a faculty guidance committee. Exploring an interdisciplinary approach to art making, as well as coursework in art history and related fields, artists cultivate professional practices that facilitate a sustainable career in the arts. Join us in celebrating our Class of 2026 UW-Madison Graduate professionals!