Mozhgan Bavaki has a diploma in Ceramics and a bachelor's degree in Graphic. She is a member of the Iranian Pottery Artists Association and by attending two Iranian ceramic biennials and several group art exhibitions and festivals with a contemporary art approach, she expresses her concern that has been social issues. In her video Strict Constraint, she uses the hand, which plays an important role in human communication. She has reduced this performance to two hands, who are in front of the camera, the hosts or the heroes of these dialogues. The artist is questioning pre-defined gender roles that are present from the Stone Age until now: The ancient model of men hunting and women collecting berries and bringing up children is still the basic structure of society that is based on a special division of roles: the man as the breadwinner and the provider, and the woman as the housewife, the mother and the wife... In this video, we see a male hand and a female hand in different positions doing different things. Sometimes a man’s hand matches traditional feminine features such as painted nails. Sometimes traditionally “female” actions like cleaning vegetables, or embroidering, or so-called “masculine” activities such as working with a machine or using boxing gloves are challenges by the video Strict Constraint when acted out by the hand of the opposite gender. The video conversations, which are also told by a man and a woman, continue to reflect traditional gender stereotypes and patterns.

Asieh Salimian (Curator