A Loss for Words

Shirin Neshat

Benefits: The Brooklyn Rail

The Brooklyn Rail Founded in October 2000 and currently published 10 times annually, The Brooklyn Rail provides an independent forum for arts, culture, and politics throughout New York City and far beyond. In addition to the journal, other Rail initiatives include Rail Editions, which publishes books of poetry, experimental fiction, prose meditation, artists’ writings, and interviews with artists in addition to art and literary criticism. The Brooklyn Rail is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

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A Loss for Words

'A Loss for Words' is the first NFT collection by renowned artist and filmmaker Shirin Neshat. Inspired by some of her earliest and most iconic photographs, the works in this series combine video, poetry and computer animation in a meditative gesture of prayer.

The collection consists of ten different texts, each selected by the artist from the work of well-known Iranian poets, including Simin Behbahani, Forugh Farrokhzad, Sohrab Sepehri, Ahmad Shamlou and Nima Yushij.

Shirin Neshat

Shirin Neshat is an Iranian-born artist and filmmaker based in New York. Her photographs, videos, and films combine poetic, politically charged images with narratives questioning issues of power, religion, race, and gender as seen through the lens of her personal experiences as an Iranian woman living in exile. Neshat's work has been featured in numerous solo exhibitions, including at The Broad, Hirshhorn Museum, Detroit Institute of Arts, Stedelijk Museum, and the Serpentine Gallery. She was awarded the First International Prize at the 48th Venice Biennale and the Silver Lion Award for Best Director at the 66th Venice International Film Festival.

Photo courtesy of the artist

A Loss for Words

This animation is my first effort in creating a work that bridges my interest in still photography and the moving picture.

This animation is my first effort in creating a work that bridges my interest in still photography and the moving picture.

The notion of one’s desire to ‘speak,’ to ‘express’ even if discreetly, in a culture of dictatorship such as in my country Iran, is created in a simple, poetic yet subversive gesture.

The inscribed poems are by several different Iranian poets, including Nima Yushij, Forugh Farrokhzad, Sohrab Sepehri, Ahmad Shamlou and Simin Behbahani.

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The notion of one's desire to 'speak' to 'express' even if discreetly, in a culture of dictatorship such as my country Iran, is created in a simple, poetic yet subversive gesture.
—Shirin Neshat
Proceeds from A Loss for Words benefit The Brooklyn Rail. Founded in October 2000, The Brooklyn Rail provides an independent forum for arts, culture, and politics throughout New York City and beyond. Other Rail initiatives include Rail Editions, which publishes books of poetry, experimental fiction, prose meditation, artists’ writings, art and literary criticism, and interviews with artists. The Brooklyn Rail is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. 10% of primary sale proceeds and 10% of resale royalties (1% of the total resale price) are donated to The Brooklyn Rail.