“Identity” is one of the most crucial principles in every individual’s life. For years, Iran’s government, through enforcing hijab and compelling society to live a life filled with pretense and deceit, has dealt the greatest possible blow to the personality and identity of each member of the community.
The recent project by Nafiseh Motlaq, an Iranian photographer and a lecturer at Nisantasi University in Turkey, narrates the authentic identity of Iranian women in the face of the imposed standards of the Iran’s government. The main idea of this project emerged from her years of life outside Iran.
When Nafiseh traveled with her Iranian passport, the image intended to represent her identity to the world exhibited no alignment with her personality, thoughts, and choice of attire. Reflecting on this, she expresses,
“Carrying this fabricated identity, which never releases its grip even when far from homeland, has always been accompanied by a sense of shame and frustration for me. In my view, a person should embrace oneself and strive to live their inner and outer reality in the most sincere and harmonious manner possible.”
One of the main challenges of this project was the potential for misunderstanding in conveying the message to the audience. This is because the project is not about the artist’s personal belief in the veil. Instead, it emphasizes the importance of each individual’s “true identity” in the most authentic way possible.
In relation to the presentation of the artwork, he adds, “In this project, I endeavored to engage the audience with the theme using Augmented Reality technology. I invite them to see behind this ID-like image and judge for themselves the extent to which mandatory veiling has created a distance between my true identity and the constructed version of myself.”
This project has been showcased in the Netherlands and Turkey so far, and it is hoped that it will be possible to exhibit it in various exhibitions around the world.