ticketsMember | Make a donation

Abi Abi

Hadieh Shafie Iranian-American
2013
Not on view
From a distance, Hadieh Shafie’s canvases appear as decorative fields of colored circles. Closer up, we see the circles are actually small scrolls of paper, hand-painted with text, rolled tightly around a central dowel, and finally mounted side-by-side. These pieces come from Shafie’s memories of the period following the 1979 revolution, when texts became highly censored. After coming to the US in 1983, she began producing her own scrolls, rolling them into tight coils to hide the text, and arranging them into abstract compositions. In this piece, the circular format is suggestive of the sama’, a celestial dance depicted in many Persian manuscript paintings.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Abi Abi
  • Artist: Hadieh Shafie (Iranian, born Tehran, 1969)
  • Date: 2013
  • Geography: Country of Origin USA
  • Medium: Ink and acrylic on paper
  • Dimensions: Diam. 36 in. (91.4 cm)
    D. 3 3/4 in. (9.5 cm)
  • Classification: Collages
  • Credit Line: Purchase, 2011 NoRuz at The Met Benefit, 2013
  • Object Number: 2013.463
  • Rights and Reproduction: © Hadieh Shafie
  • Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

More Artwork

More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Atlas of My World (Six Works), Zarina American, born India, Portfolio of 6 woodcuts with Urdu text printed in black on Indian handmade paper
On loan to The Met
Atlas of My World (Six Works)
Zarina
2001
Calligraphic Drawing 1 and 2, Untitled, Faramarz Pilaram Iranian, Ink and acrylic on paper
Calligraphic Drawing 1 and 2, Untitled
Faramarz Pilaram
dated 1979
A Passage to Egypt, Burhan Doğançay American, born Turkey, Mixed media - acrylic, opaque watercolor, collage, and fumage
A Passage to Egypt
Burhan Doğançay
1990
Pipes, Shiva Ahmadi Iranian-American, Watercolor, ink, and acrylic on aquaboard
Pipes
Shiva Ahmadi
2013
Fallujah 2004, Siah Armajani Iranian, Wood, paint, plexiglass, cloth, metal and copper wire
Fallujah 2004
Siah Armajani
2004

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.