Rojin Shafiei

“Working from an interdisciplinary approach to moving images in my works, art is a vehicle for the translation of cultural messages as an Iranian immigrant based in Canada and is used to present diverse feminine subjectivities. I present these themes both through a literal documentary style and as symbols in different mediums. I am particularly inspired by the observation of routines, in both individuals and cities. I work on projects that are both independent and collaborative, and my practice draws heavily on research and cultural exploration, looking at new ways of working with moving image, photography, performance, sound, text and installation.
My practice is about my reactions to everyday life, social and political issues, and personal experiences as a woman who has lived in both the Middle-East and North America. For instance, I use the action of “walking” in my works a lot. In my perspective, walking is performance art itself. It lets us break our body’s comfort zone and move through space.
I find my perspective frequently returning to the themes of displacement, time, feminism, violence, and human rights. I keep remembering my life and rights as a woman in Iran, trying to picture it and compare it with my life as a woman and immigrant in Canada.”

Rojin Shafiei is an Iranian artist living and working in Montreal. In her videos, art is a vehicle for the translation of cultural messages and is used to present diverse feminine subjectivities. She presents these themes both through a literal documentary style and as symbols. She is particularly inspired by the observation of routines, in both of individual and of cities.
Rojin received her bachelor of fine arts in Intermedia from Concordia University in 2017 and has screened her work internationally in various festivals such as at les Rendez-Vous du Cinéma Québécois (Canada), Festival International de Vidéo de Casablanca (Moroco), Limited Access Video Festival (Tehran) and Instant Vidéo Numériques et Poétiques (France). In 2019 she was the VeniceLands Art Prize candidate in Treviso, Italy and she won the grand prize of Startupfest/Artupfest section in July 2018 for her piece I wait for the time.