In the wake of her recent major retrospective at the Broad Museum, Shirin Neshat considers issues of transnational politics and feminism across photography, narrative film, and video art in her practice.

Born in Iran in 1957, Neshat is a video and installation artist who explores the political and social conditions of Iranian and Muslim life, particularly focusing on women and feminist issues. Neshat left Iran to study art in the United States and graduated from UC Berkeley with an MFA in 1982. When she returned to her home country in 1990, she found it barely recognizable; the shock of the 1979 revolution and its aftermath incited meditations on memory, loss, and contemporary life in Iran that are central to her work. Her Women of Allah series, created in the mid-1990s, introduced hallmark themes through which she examines conditions of male, female, public, private, religious, political, and secular identities in both Iranian and Western cultures. 

Participants and topics are subject to change; visit Berkeley Arts + Design (artsdesign.berkeley.edu) for the most up-to-date series information.