The Fertile Crescent: Gender, Art, and Society

Published in conjunction with a multivenue exhibition showcasing female artists from the Middle East, Rutgers University emeritus professors Brodsky and Olin bring together 24 compelling contemporary creators for this beautiful, tough, and stimulating collection. Standouts include Shadi Ghadirian, whose photos shows women solitarily spinning spiderwebs from yarn in shadowed rooms, Shirin Neshat's photos of inscribed calligraphic Farsi on her subjects' bodies, and Parastou Forouhar's prints of butterflies and weapons created by a collage of faceless human figures. The diverse array of mediums represented include video stills, live performances, and painted oil barrels. Visions of women in a patriarchal society and a region in turmoil recur throughout, as does the theme of displacement and lost identity. Preceding the showcase of individual artists are four deft and intelligent essays. Margot Badran lucidly explores the role of women and women artists in Egypt in the time of revolution, and Gilane Tawadros discusses the place of art in subverting the colonialism of conventional cartography. Illus. Agent: TK. (Nov.)