
01/09/2025
Opening today Shadi Ghadirian - Miss Butterfly as part of the exhibition Our Stone Age, a series of photographic work at Kamalnayan Bajaj Art Gallery, Nariman Point as part of MGW.
The story is inspired by a text by Behzad Nejadghanbar :
Miss Butterfly is going to meet the sun, looking for a way out and reaching for the light becomes captive in spider’s web. The spider, moved by compassion after observing all the grace and delicacy in Miss Butterfly, comes to an agreement with her. She is supposed to bring one of the insects from the dark cellar and ties it up in spider’s web for him. Instead, the spider is going to lead her to the way out and to the light. But after hearing the insects’ stories the Miss Butterfly feels pity for them and eventually returns to the spider empty handed with injured wings and makes herself captive in the web to the spider’s food. Knowing the truth, the spider sets the Miss Butterfly and shows her the way out to meet the sun. The Miss Butterfly recalls all the other insects in the cellar to share her freedom with them but she gets no response. She who is so frustrated by their reaction wide opens her weary wings and flies toward the sun.
"Miss Butterfly " photo series is a story of a woman who is busy weaving spider webs on doors and windows at home. The threads that at first glance seem to be woven for protection; Protection of the home, of security, and of the entry of insects or external threats. But behind this effort lies an inner conflict: Shapark Khanom's desire to reach the light.
These images are a metaphor for the human effort to maintain borders and security against external threats, but at the same time a reflection of the desire to break these barriers to achieve enlightenment, freedom, and dreams. Spider webs, which are a symbol of control and limitation, have been artistically transformed into a bridge between inside and outside.
"Shaperak Khanom" invites the audience to think about their inner dualities: protection or liberation? Security or light? This collection is a story of a woman who lives between staying and going, between making and being free.