Minoo Emami
A primary function of art is the engagement and elevation of the human spirit. The purpose of war is to injure or destroy the body and spirit. My art lies at the intersection of these conflicting dualities and embodies the tensions. Just as art seeks to transcend that which would hold it down, war works to hold down that which would transcend it. My art creates enslavement between the contradictions of war’s aftermath; a mixture of wounding and healing, hope and despair, isolation and intimacy. Through the portrayal and utilization of used prostheses, I hope to transform the harsh realities of war into objects of beauty. My art, then, is both profane and sacred. -Minno Emami
Minoo was born and raised in Kermanshah in the west of Iran. In her childhood, the Islamic Revolution occurred in 1979 and very soon afterward the 8 years war with Iraq started. Living in the war zone motivated her to choose war as the backbone of her artistic practice. Within her collection, a noteworthy recurrence which should be considered is the presence of a prosthetic leg in the majority of her pieces, a symbol of permanent war consequences in people's lives and the presence of millions of undetected land mines, at the district. Minoo has exhibited her works worldwide and published two catalogs, one in 2007(Iran) and another in 2012(Iraq). Her art also has been broadcasted with the Berlin's Lettre International magazine, Boston Globe, Harvard Gazette and many more publications.
