Shirin Neshat Quotes

#1. Every Iranian artist dreams of the black market. We don't care about making money.

Shirin Neshat

#2. There is nothing negative about a group of people crying out for democracy - and if my voice counts, I will be vocal.

Shirin Neshat

#3. Every Iranian artist, in one form or another, is political. Politics have defined our lives.

Shirin Neshat

#4. Poets use metaphors and symbolism to construct images. I construct my images in the same way, except that I am using a different form.

Shirin Neshat

#5. Art is no crime. It's every artist's responsibility to make art that is meaningful

Shirin Neshat

#6. I'm an artist, I'm not an activist.

Shirin Neshat

#7. Art is our weapon. Culture is a form of resistance.

Shirin Neshat

#8. Being political is an integral part of being Iranian. Our lives are defined by politics.

Shirin Neshat

#9. I find that through the study of women, you get to the heart - the truth - of the culture.

Shirin Neshat

#10. I believe and support the feminist movement, but I am not generally interested in considering women's rights in relation to equality with men, or in a competition with men, but rather within their own rights and feminine space.

Shirin Neshat

#11. My father was a doctor, but he was what I would call an intellectual - very well-read and very interested in knowledge. He insisted that I get as much education as my brothers.

Shirin Neshat

#12. I believe we don't need to widen the divide between the West and Islam. Rather, we need to build dialogue to encourage tolerance and respect.

Shirin Neshat

#13. The first years of my life in the U.S. were very difficult.

Shirin Neshat

#14. In this Western world that we have, culture risks being [only] a form of entertainment.

Shirin Neshat

#15. Magical realism allows an artist like myself to inject layers of meaning without being obvious. In American culture, where there is freedom of expression, this approach may seem forced, unnecessary and misunderstood. But this system of communication has become very Iranian.

Shirin Neshat

#16. Beautiful woman wrapped in chadors, with huge machine guns in their hands. Brilliant, shocking, amazingly contradictory images. They compelled me to deeply investigate these ideas.

Shirin Neshat

#17. I'm really interested in social justice, and if an artist has a certain power of being heard and voicing something important, it's right to do it. It could still be done in such a way that it's not aggressive or overly didactic. I'm trying to find that form.

Shirin Neshat

#18. I think of myself, an Iranian/American artist, and wonder what would I want if I'm ever imprisoned by the Iranian government for the work that I make? I answer: I would hope that the United States government comes to my rescue.

Shirin Neshat