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5-Shirin NESHAT-Offerings

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Shirin Neshat, an Iranian-born artist who moved to the United States at age 17, continues to practice Islam while using her art to explore women’s issues. Her work seeks a dialogue between faith and gender equality, addressing the complex tensions between belief systems and personal agency.
In this photographic series, Neshat focuses exclusively on women’s hands, presenting three distinct gestures: closed, half-open, and fully open. Each carries symbolic meaning. The backs of the closed hands are covered in Islamic floral patterns; the half-open palms bear Persian poetry; and the fully open hands display bold, black calligraphy, as if voicing a longing or a plea.
By deliberately omitting the rest of the body, Neshat draws attention to the women’s hands as both expressive tools and symbols of labor within patriarchal culture. The series title, Offerings, deepens this implication, suggesting submission, sacrifice, and suppressed strength. Rendered in stark black and white, the images further emphasize the voiceless condition of women under such constraints.