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A Jineology for Iran
Fari Bradley is an Iranian-born artist, living and working in London. Bradley's practice involves sound sculpture, installation, performance and broadcast. For her MOCA London Web Exhibition Bradley has created a new video and sound piece titled A Jineology for Iran. Bradley dreams up a series of shape-shifting spirit forms in support of women's struggle for "Women Life Freedom", reflected in her own gender and ethnicity-based schisms, explored on camera circa 2002. Jineology is a Kurdish form of feminism and equality practiced by armed women freedom fighters in the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and beyond. Kurds, now divided between four countries, have never been given equal rights, including in Iran. Mahsa Amini the young woman whose murder triggered the 2022 global Iranian protests was Kurdish-Iranian. The worst of the current suppression and regime-backed murders are in Iran's remote and mountainous Kurdish regions. Drawing on a spiritual resonance between the fighting spirit in highland cultures and lores around the world, and pre-Islamic Persian beliefs about djinns (genies) Bradley's "A Jineology for Iran" interweaves Kurdish, Hindu and current Iran-pop visual language, which has exploded on social media since what is being called 'the first feminist revolution' kicked off in Iran in September 2022. The composed soundtrack for A Jineology for Iran interacts with silent text and a recording Bradley did 20 years ago. The recording expounds Bradley's own dual identity and is in dialogue with her own experiences living in India for 5 years. Myths of djinns as gender-fluid, invisible and visible, speak somewhat to the pantheon of Hindu goddesses who are endowed with as much if not more power than their male counterparts, often embodying the most terrible forms in order to battle and vanquish evil. "A Jineology for Iran" is a fierce, confident Indo-Persian mythology, borne from studying Indian music and meditation, and spurred on by a solidarity with women in Iran today, who were previously hampered by a belief system that pressured them to appear adherent, covered and never "Westoxified" in public. Extolling the Kurdish/ diverse aspects of its culture, Iran is giving birth to a stronger, more spirited identity and Bradley's piece proposes that the optimism of the "Women Life Freedom" protests today open Iran up to the wisdoms and spiritual energy of its neighbouring countries. With a background in classical and North Indian music, Bradley employs found materials, hand-made electronics for improvisation in performance and recorded sound. Collaborating on large scale pieces, Bradley composes with graphic scores for site-specific work and releases digital works online, on vinyl and as radiophonics. Her solo and joint practice as 'Bradley-Weaver' includes commissions from London Architecture Week, V&A Museum, South London Gallery, Art Dubai, Beirut Arts Centre, Lahore Biennial Foundation, Malja - Bahrain, Tashkeel - Dubai, the British Council and many more. On the UK art-music radio station Resonance104.4fm (2004-2019), Bradley explored MENASA arts and culture through her weekly show Six Pillars, and fringe dance music on Free Lab Radio. A Jineology for Iran, 2022 6"45" @mocalondon_we www.faribradley.co.uk www.bradley-weaver.com IG: @faribradley |