The Learning Zone

Leila Zahiri, an Iranian Canadian and recent graduate of OCAD U, uses the medium of video to deliver a critique on traditional Persian marriage rituals.

Zahiri’s performative action of rubbing two sugar cones uses the subtext of symbology, repetition and ritual to underline the cultural practices that perpetuates traditional values and sustains the gender role myth.

By upsetting the structure of a specific ritual, Zahiri challenges the crippling values and costumes that it promotes in order to reclaim her autonomy and assert her agency as an Iranian woman.

Parastoo Anoushahpour

On until October 20th at the Learning Zone or online at XPACE.