THE ACT OF GORDAFARID: THE FEMALE WARRIOR

Yasmin Sinai’s The Act of Gordafarid, the Female Warrior revolves around Gordafarid, the only female warrior in the Shahnameh (Book of Kings), the epic poem written by the renowned Persian poet Ferdowsi. Gordafarid represents a 21st-century woman warrior, embodying multiple roles as a mother, partner, and defender of her father’s castle, while simultaneously fighting for her own rights, wishes, and desires.

For this exhibition, Sinai combines her dramatic approach to sculpture and installation with paper and cardboard to create an immersive theatrical environment. Drawing on the mythical story of this ancient Persian heroine, Sinai reimagines Gordafarid within a contemporary context, using the legend as a framework through which to explore the experiences of women today.

The exhibition unfolds across three theatrical scenes, each presenting a different representation of Gordafarid. In the first, she appears as an actress—or puppet—accompanied by her…