As Minoo Emami’s “Body Quilt” takes shape in the Silpe Art Gallery on campus, the Hartford Courant has documented the collaborative project on the front page of the newspaper.
(This can also be viewed with UHart credentials via the ProQuest database.)
The Iranian artist is featured in an exhibit at the University of Hartford through December and has invited the campus community, as well as members of the public, to help sew together her early canvas paintings into a massive quilt — that will then be lit on fire Nov. 11, in the Harry Jack Gray Center quad in a sacrificial burning art performance.
Juniors and seniors in a Hartford Art School painting class recently visited Silpe, learning sutures for the quilt under Emami’s direction as the Courant photographed their efforts.
Emami has long endeavored to show solidarity with those fighting for human rights in Iran, while also bringing light to the physical and psychological trauma of war. The September opening of the exhibit also marked one year since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in Iran while detained for a dress code violation.
The artist’s work connects to global struggles for women’s rights and social justice. Motivated by the sacrifices of those injured in the conflict zone, as well as the fight of women in her own country, Emami decided that she will burn her early “antiwar” works at UHart after they are stitched together into the quilt.
The burning will fall on Veteran’s Day, as Emami’s work also focuses on veterans, military members, and all they give up as they serve.
The exhibit at UHart is also at the Joseloff Gallery and includes Emami’s early paintings and drawings, prints, photography, prosthetic sculpture series, videos, and new never-before-seen work related to the ongoing Iranian Women’s Rights Movement.