AFSOON
Ghamar
Watercolour and paper-collage on Arches paper with audio accompaniment
42 x 34 cm
Born in1905 in Iran, Ghamar ol Moluk Vaziri entered the world of music at a time when women were not allowed to sing in public. As an orphan, she grew up living with her grandmother who was a religious singer for ceremonies in mosques. Ghamar became the first woman to sing in front of men and she was one of the first female singers to be broadcast on national radio.
I chose her for the I AM exhibition in order to be reminded and to remind others that there were pioneering women like Ghamar in the East who broke the barriers and used their art as a tool for gender equality. These days more than ever we need women who use their ability, knowledge and talent to pave the way for others to follow.
Afsoon is an Iranian born, London based artist. Occident and Orient coexist in her works, which are multi-layered and often combine text with images, using various media such as linocuts, watercolour, photography, collage, and etching. She returns emotionally to her motherland via her work, which results from painstaking research into her chosen subject matter.
Afsoon’s works have been extensively exhibited and can be found worldwide in prominent collections and museums, including the British Museum and Berger/YSL Collection, among others.