The visual artist reveals how her installation Turbulent built a community among the Iranian diaspora in New York, and expressed her feelings for her homeland

In 1998, a photographer who made New York her home following the Iranian revolution decided to make her first video installation. Parted from her family for 12 years, absent from the place she grew up in, Shirin Neshat sought out a team of exiled Iranian artists to create a piece that would indulge her nostalgia for traditional music and poetry. The resulting conceptual work, Turbulent, presented ideas rooted in folk culture that commented on women’s isolation in contemporary Iran, and on the creation of art itself.



In the ninth episode of The Start, we hear how Turbulent marked a new beginning for Neshat, professionally and personally, connecting her with the Iranian community in New York.

Special thanks to Balik Arts and Belgin Bugay Gürağaç for providing the vocals within the piece.