What happened to the women in SHAHNAMEH?

As flowers turn toward the sun, by dint of a secret heliotropism the past strives to turn toward that sun which is rising in the sky of history.

Walter Benjamin, Illuminations, “Theses on the philosophy of history”

 Every time I look at those wonderful Iranian illustrations, I am totally influenced by their perfect preciousness. The combination of this incomparable greatness of illustrations and Iranian classical literature leads to a unique collection which is an endless source of pleasure, especially for anyone who meditates on these illustrations and travels in this wonderful world. But this greatness shouldn’t be a barrier to critical view, which, naturally, has many different forms according to the audiences’ different ways of thinking and understanding. I have my own critical view.

 I have worked on the concepts related to women issues for many years, and through my studies I have found out that the role of women in classical Iranian literature and illustrations was always marginal. The reason has been a question for me in recent years. One can simply finds the origin of this marginality in historical problems of Iranian society and culture, and a simple, vulgar cliché as an answer is always available: patriarchal society. Maybe the truth is this simple answer has been a barrier to a critical and radical study of the case, and though it seems strange, but I think that female intellectuals and artists has failed to understand the origin of the situation and explain it through a radical, critical approach, because they have accepted this simple answer (I should add that it doesn’t mean that I found out a perfect, unique and all-explaining one).

It is obvious that in history of western art women have had a discernable position and pivotal role, and western history is full of serious, critical observations about them. The discussion has continuously developed in western history, from Christianity to our times. From Christian faith to social, political, economical, and artistic issues, women have always been the center of various debates.

So, the contradiction between western history and Iranian culture became the base of my ideas in this project. I have tried to think about the issue from different point of views, I even tried to mix it with the problems of contemporary Iranian women. When you choose such a direction to go ahead, you have no other way but to encounter the problems rises from your inevitable challenge with history (in general sense), literature, culture, art, etc.

I had strict positions in my other works before, and mostly, I tried to criticize society psychoanalytically. Sometimes I have been critique of patriarchal society, and even sometimes angrily and ironically underestimated, even denied my society and everything I saw around me. But in this project I respectfully bow down before the women, especially women of my country.

Amirhossein Bayani