Shirin Neshat | Untitled (Hands) [Collaboration with Izhar Patkin]

This artwork was produced for Witness, an organization dedicated to shedding light on human rights violations around the world. Witness was founded by Peter Gabriel, formerly of the band Genesis. Izhar Patkin was the creative director for Witness at that time.

“Artists Support Witness” was a limited edition print project that paired artists from diverse backgrounds to create joint photographs (Israel and Iran in this case, joining Muslim and Jewish individuals). The image demonstrates the artistic possibilities of tolerance and acceptance. (Amongst other collaborations from the project was a print by Sebastiao Salgado and William Wegman.)

For this image the hand models were Izhar (with the tefillin) and a female friend of his. The composition was shot with a medium format analog camera. Neshat applied the calligraphy on the female hand portion of the original print, which was subsequently repeated on the lithographs in the edition.