Banned

Narrative Paintings by Maryam Safajoo

October 5 - November 19, 2023

Saturday, October 7, 5-7pm: Opening reception with Artist Talk at 6pm

On display at The Umbrella's second floor Outside-the-Box Gallery, "Banned" features paintings by Maryam Safajoo narrating the stories of the contemporary situation of the systematically persecuted Iranian Baha’i community – Iran’s largest religious minority – after the 1979 Iranian revolution.

Artist's Statement

My paintings narrate the stories of the contemporary situation of the systematically persecuted Iranian Baha’i community – Iran’s largest religious minority – after the 1979 Iranian revolution. Many of the incidents I depict only exist in the memory of those who experienced them and have no pictorial existence. In many cases if visual records did exist, they have been confiscated by the Iranian authorities in raids of homes. My depictions are often the first time these events have taken visual form. I record the details of this history. For example, the shoes, clothes, artifacts, and environments seen in my paintings are very close to those that were there in the event.

View Artwork Descriptions (PDF)