Mirjam Maeekalle & Sepideh Safiyari

Málmstangir, málmplötur, vírnet, sáraumbúðir, 32.000 nálar, ljóð

Verkið er unnið í samstarfi og er viðbragð við því ofbeldi sem írönsk stjórnvöld beittu eigin þjóð í janúar 2026. Verkið er sprottið úr listsköpun þeirra beggja þar sem sársauki og ofbeldi eru oftar en ekki umfjöllunarefni. En er um leið tileinkun til þeirra sem létust.

Staða listakvennanna er mismunandi. Reynsla Sepideh eru persónuleg og mótuð af þeim atburðum sem enn standa yfir og hafa áhrif á hana og fjölskyldu hennar í Íran. Mirjam er í hlutverki áhorfanda, sem verður vitni að áhrifum þessa ofbeldis á nána vinkonu. Auk þess sem bakgrunnur hennar er litaður af ofbeldi í bæði persónulegum og pólitískum skilningi. Þessar mismunandi aðstæður móta þá nálgun á mannlega samkennd sem verkið birtir.

Framlag Sepideh sprettur úr eigin lífsreynslu og beinum tengslum við þessar aðstæður, á meðan Mirjam nálgast viðfangsefnið í gegnum listræna og efnislega útfærslu og beinir samkennd sinni að Sepideh, fremur en Íran beint.

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Metal rods, metal sheet, wire mesh, bandage, 32.000 pins, poem

A collaborative artwork responding to violence inflicted on Iranian people in January 2026 by their own government. Rooted in a shared engagement with pain and violence, the piece stands as a homage to those who lost their lives.

The collaboration brings together two distinct positions: Sepideh’s deeply personal connection, shaped by ongoing events affecting her and her family in Iran, and Mirjam’s role as an observer, witnessing the impact of this violence on someone close to them, with a background marked by violence on both personal and political levels. These differing proximities inform the work’s exploration of human empathy.

Sepideh’s contribution emerges from a lived experience and continued exposure to these conditions, while Mirjam engages through artistic and material interpretation, situating their empathy in relation to Sepideh rather than Iran directly.

Photo credits: Sisters Lumière / @sisters_lumiere

Penetrating Violence

Pain that comes from what was meant to protect;
a silent betrayal
that settles into repetition.

The body is no longer a refuge,
it is exposed
under a gaze that does not withdraw,
under a pressure that does not cease.

Touch turns into intrusion,
closeness becomes another form of violence.

The wound is no longer a point,
it spreads
across bodies,
into a memory that is no longer individual,
into a count rewritten again and again.

Breaking is not a single moment;
this repetition
leaves no space for repair.

What remains
is an open body,
continuously exposed,
unable to withdraw,
unable to separate from the trace of this violence.

Translated from Persian
Þýtt úr persnesku