Sokhanvari’s first solo exhibition in Denmark, Rebel Rebel, features 21 exquisite miniature portraits of once celebrated Iranian women including Vida Ghahremani, the first woman to be kissed in close up in a Filmfarsi production; the controversial modernist poet Forough Farrokhzad; and the leading intellectual and writer Simin Dāneshvar, amongst others. 

“Soheila Sokhanvari’s critically engaging exhibition is extremely relevant and timely, especially in light of the political situation in Iran. The exhibition gives us the possibility to reflect and debate and, through the unique visual presentation of Sokhanvari´s works, to consider a different voice, a new narrative, and perhaps even hope for the future,” says Museum Director Rebecca Matthews.

The exhibition title, Rebel Rebel, borrows from David Bowie’s 1974 cult pop song to remind us that the women portrayed pursued their careers in a culture enamoured with Western style but not its freedoms.  

The title also serves as a lament to the fate of these women. After the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and the subsequent establishment of a conservative Islamic theocracy, they were left with a stark choice: to renounce any role in public life, or to be forced into exile. 

“In my art, I speak about the collective through the narratives of individuals. In order to tell the story of pre-revolutionary Iran, I decided to focus on some of its best-known women. Images of women are used as symbols of Iranian political ideologies: the stories told in the West about their lives are all about the enforcement of veiling after the revolution, and I wanted to tell an alternative story. The selection is focused on performing artists: they were the most visible and so they were the ones who were most notably silenced after 1979,” says Soheila Sokhanvari. 

Multimedia exhibition

In Rebel Rebel, each of Sokhanvari’s delicate portraits is hung against a hand-painted mural based on traditional Islamic geometries. This absorbing pattern covers the entire gallery; alongside the portraits Sokhanvari has created mesmerizing, sculptural mirrored forms, which feature internal projections drawn from classic Iranian cinema. 

Flowing through the exhibition is a new soundtrack, composed by Marios Aristopoulos, which weaves together songs by celebrated Iranian singers from the mid-20th century, a poignant gesture given that it remains illegal for a woman to sing publicly in Iran.  

Likewise, STAR (2022), a sculpture with projections of a 25-minute reel of Filmfarsi cinema depicting a selection of women in the exhibition, performing and dancing, points poetically to the fact that it is illegal for women to dance in public in Iran as well as appear without their hijab.   

About Soheila Sokhanvari 

Soheila Sokhanvari was born in Shiraz, Iran and moved to UK as a child, a year before the Pahlavi regime was overthrown. Sokhanvari currently lives and works in Cambridge. 

Sokhanvari gained a BSc in Biochemistry in 1986 and worked as a research scientist for Cambridge University, as Soheila Swanton. She then received her BA in Art History and Fine Arts from Anglia Ruskin University in 2005, holds a postgraduate diploma in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Art and Design in 2006 and an MFA from Goldsmiths College in 2011. Her multidisciplinary work weaves layers of political histories with bizarre, mysterious, and often humorous narratives. 

“As the first museum in Denmark, we’re extremely pleased to be showcasing a solo exhibition with Soheila Sokhanvari. Her works create space for dialogue, immersion, and reflection. To be able to create an exhibition where these rare feminist voices are given power is both a great honour and a privilege,” says ARoS’ curator Ellen Drude Skeel Langvold. 

Collaboration with the Barbican

Rebel Rebel is produced in close collaboration with the artist and was originally commissioned by the Barbican, London. 

At ARoS, Rebel Rebel is curated by Ellen Drude Skeel Langvold and is on view from January 13th to June 2nd 2024 at Level 5 in ARoS’s Focus gallery.  

A richly illustrated catalogue will be published to accompany the exhibition, featuring a commissioned text in response to Sokhanvari’s work by writer and curator Jordan Amirkhani and an interview with the artist by senior curator at the Barbican, Eleanor Nairne. 

Concept and design for the exhibition is realized by Soheila Sokhanvari, and technical drawings and design is made by architect Jean-François C. Lemay. The hand stencilled wall and floor patterns are made by Many Hands Studio.

The exhibition is realized with generous support from the Stibo Fonden, Per og Lise Aarsleffs Fond, the Danish Arts Foundation, British Embassay Copenhagen, Grosserer L.F. Foghts Fond og Jotun.  

Press photos can be freely downloaded from Dropbox when giving due credit.

Soheila Sokhanvari is participating in the opening and press launch of the exhibition.