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72 virgins

It is a common tradition in Russia and Asia for the bride and groom to take wedding photographs in scenic places. In Kaliningrad wedding parties usually come to Kant’s tomb to lay flowers and drink champagne. The performance of Shahram Entekhabi focuses on this phenomenon. Assuming the role of a martyr, the artist visits Kant’s tomb with 72 virgins, who he will select with his "parents", to accompany him in paradise as was promised to martyrs in some interpretations of Islamic teachings. The women, of all shapes and sizes, are dressed in black dresses, each with a white flower in hand. Besides evoking the idea of the black widow as the fanatical Muslim female martyr, the black dress refers to the colour of grief, common in European cultures. It also hints at the fact that the marriage in paradise is only possible after the death of the martyr as well as the death of the virgins.

Similar to Shahram Entekhabi’s previous projects, the ‘72 Virgins’ photograph and performance-video project features the artist Shahram Entekhabi deconstructing the stereotype of ‘The Other’, migrant foreigners and those on the periphery of society. In doing so, ‘72 Virgins’ highlights the clichés about Muslims by casting a critical view to notions of masculinity. It also questions the ideals and realities of roles and promises as (mis)interpreted and instrumentalized by ideology, religious discourse and society to rally and recruit people for political gain. Indeed, circles within contemporary Islamic debate claim that this practice has no authenticity and is constantly contended. The project also engages in a critical, albeit humorous, view of rites of passage like marriage which usually takes place between birth and death. However for martyrs, their marriage (to 72 virgins) takes place after death.

Recalling Kant’s Categorial Imperative which holds that an act can be moral if universally accepted by all, 72 Virgins offers a tongue-in-cheek view of the establishment of knowledge. Here, it might be possible for the Jewish/Christian Western male to consider reaching 72 virgins in paradise as a form of religious sacrifice and honour, due to one’s innate sexual desires and wishes as well as the rich sexual imagery rooted in Judeo-Christian traditions. (Damina Khaira)

72 Virgins © Shahram Entekhabi 2009
Performance project, 2 video channel and photographic series
Coproduction: National Centre for Contemporary Arts, Kaliningrad and Moscow, Russian Federation
Damina Khaira [LLB (International Islamic Univ Malaysia), MSc (Oxford) & PhD candidate (Harvard)]