TEHRAN – Galerie im Saalbau in Berlin is showcasing works by six artists from across the world, including Iranian artist Samira Hodai, in an exhibition opened on August 21.

The exhibition named “Textile as the Language of Resilience” is putting on display the hand-sewn textile works to testify to the power of resistance.

Works by Tewa Barnosa from Libya, Nuray Demir from Turkey, Regina José Galindo from Guatemala, Sophie Utikal from the U.S., and German-Bolivian artist Verena Melgarejo Weinandt has also been selected for the exhibition curated by Daniela Nadwornicek.

In traumatic and violent injuries, when tissue is severed or lost, wounds develop. Wounds on our body. Wounds on our soul, Nadwornicek said in a statement for the exhibition, which will run through October 3.

Violence against women is one of the most widespread and deeply rooted human rights violations worldwide, which is still an obstacle to the realization of equality, peace, and women’s rights. 

Physical and psychological violence shapes the everyday life of women from all walks of life and continues to be tolerated, ignored and exploited - also here in Berlin-Neukolln.

Larger injuries take a long time to heal without assistance, which is why they are sewn. Scars are the visible traces of these healed wounds.

The artists in the exhibition reveal their personal scars with visible seams and provide insights into the strategies of self-preservation and healing. Seams, the visible traces in the tissue, illustrate the process of artistic work and the associated wound healing. 

The stories of the women who have hidden behind the fabric become visible - who were hidden by the fabric. The hand-sewn textile work is evidence of resilience and the collective protest against invisibility, oppression, and violence.

Hodai, 40, is an artist whose tapestries are like paintings that have a distinctive appearance. Her paintings emerge from pixel-like dots.

Photo: A painting by Iranian artist Samira Hodai.

MMS/