A dazzling array of materials and mediums greets visitors to the University of Manitoba’s School of Art Gallery these days in a confluence of new exhibits of theses from six new Masters of Fine Arts graduates. These exhibits run the gamut from literature to visual arts to video and sound, and each interrogates a part of the artist’s identity or cultural background in a new light.
At the back of the main exhibition hall lies the perfect example of this: Unwinding Complexity by Iranian-Canadian artist Maryam Bagheri. The exhibit’s main feature are woven pieces hanging from the ceiling and are accompanied by paintings and video installations created by Bagheri during her degree.
“My grandma was a weaver,” she says when asked about the inspiration for the project. “Part of my childhood was with her sitting next to her upright loom and she’s making knots after knots and me, sitting by her looking at all those amazing colours, shapes, patterns... it was magic to me.”
For Bagheri, that magic was undercut by the role that rug weaving holds in Iranian culture: often considered more domestic chore than artistic conjuring. The role of weaving in this culture is often held by women and goes unacknowledged despite the renown of Persian rugs the world over.
“I couldn’t see the difference between a rug or a painting,” Bagheri recalls, “because both of them were like an image which was not real, like it was very abstract.”
Bagheri adds to the abstraction of her weaving by adding in symbolism through the colours of the wool (many of which she hand-dyed) and Farsi letters and words woven into the works.
“Language is important for me because I feel like language is home,” she explains. “Whenever I talk in Farsi, I feel like I’m home. These are not only decorations for my work – they're talking about my memories, my love and my loss.”
The power of the languages in these pieces reclaiming the acknowledgement and rights of women in an Iranian context grew for Bagheri as the Women Life Freedom movement – started after the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iranian authorities back in 2022 – spread throughout the Iranian diaspora. Another element of Unwinding Complexity is a video projected onto a piece of weaving that Bagheri made for Canada Day celebrations with the support and advice from members of Winnipeg’s Iranian community.
“I used that opportunity to talk about women’s situation in Iran to talk about the women’s situation in Iran,” says Bagheri, noting that members of the community have responded warmly to the video and to Unwinding Complexity as a whole.
“Weaving is a universal language for people,” she continues, talking about the response from people of all walks of life. “That's something that I appreciate if people see weaving being a way of creation.”
Unwinding Complexity runs as part of the MFA exhibit at the University of Manitoba’s School of Art Gallery until June 20. Gallery hours and more information can be found at the School of Art’s website.