Sixteenth International Conference on the Arts in Society

Abstract

As an artist currently making work about queer Iranian-American identity, sanism, the environment, and gender oppression, I am excited about the macro and micro nuances, urgencies, and questions being brought to the surface at the conference this year. I’m interested in the conversations regarding obligation for the future of our existence, as well as the ideas around maintaining traditional art practices in a digital age. While localism can be productively circulated to reimagine and rebuild elsewhere, I’m considering the exploitation between local and global power dynamics and the discussions around the role of the institution during the current paradigm shift. All of these themes and thoughts interest me for the 2021 conference. My current research connects the portrayal of mental illness in French theatre with the pathologizing of homosociality in Iran during the 1800’s. Drawing inspiration from the work of Asfaneh Najmabadi, I explore how the shift from homosociality to heterosociality in Iran coincided with the creation of the asylum and hysteria, both of which conceptualized femininity and binary gender roles in Europe. I examine travel logs, paintings and national emblems which offer insight into this shift. Additionally, the plays written by Alfred Binet for The Grand Guignol theatre are one of my primary sources on the societal and medical perceptions of madness, the masculine, and the feminine in France. Along with artwork, my presentation will include notes showing my research, conclusions, and creative interpretations of this history in the context of 2021.