The Girls

Farima Malekmadani and her team traveled to provincial cities across Iran to channel the imagination of young girls, and ask them to focus on their dreams and aspirations.

The goal of the project was to broaden the horizons for young girls in Iran, and enable them to expand their imagination to reach their expectation in life. This was a project that asked girls in a restrictive land, where their aspirations are limited by perceived and real limitations, to conceptualize their dreams and articulate their goals in life with a broader lens than they usually contemplate. In the process, they were given the tools to envision an audacious image of their future, and to convey it to us through writing and photography.

The result is the exhibit we will feature on an event to celebrate International Women’s Month, right here in West LA (Santa Monica), on March 5th, at Laemmle Monica (1332 2nd Street, SM, CA 90401), from 7-10 pm - doors open at 7, film screens at 7:30 followed by panel, reception and exhibit at 8:30.

The girls were all given cameras to photograph their world, and notebooks to convey their thoughts. They were given the freedom to demonstrate their vision in any manner they wish. This exercise in free-form creativity, with no limitations, resulted in a magnificent array of visual expressions that depict the lives of these girls. The pictures convey their dreams, their mundane realities, their perceptions of the details that color their lives, and even the limitations or the inspirations they rely on to shape their future.

Join us for the breathtaking exhibit, and take part in sharing the realities of young women in a traditional society. We will be screening an inspirational film, then conducting a panel discussion before heading upstairs for a reception and photo exhibit. Come share in the conversation around the status of women, their rights and their desires in the long-term.

We believe it is quite an achievement to create room for freedom of discussion on subjects rarely - if ever - addressed. This event and exhibit will be another testament that in the eyes of humanity, we are all the same.

As the great Persian poet Saadi once said, “human beings are members of a whole, In creation of one essence and soul. If one member is afflicted with pain, Other members uneasy will remain. If you have no sympathy for human pain, the name of human you cannot retain.”