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# Quote from Shirin Neshat at TEDWomen
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/shirin-neshat-tedwomen/
- Published: 2010-12-08T22:15:09.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:03:01.000Z
- Description: In the West, culture is at risk of being a form of entertainment -- exiled Iranian artist Shirin Neshat #TEDWomen [http://twitter.com/search?q=%23TEDWomen]less than a minute ago [http://twitter.com/anxiaostudio/statuses/12623138495930369] via Twitter for BlackBerry® [http://blackberry.com/twitter][h
- Author: Hrag Vartanian
- Tags: Opinion, #image-position-hidden, An Xiao Mina, Shirin Neshat, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2025-11-17 09:23 (2009-2011)

In the West, culture is at risk of being a form of entertainment — exiled Iranian artist Shirin Neshat [#TEDWomen](http://twitter.com/search?q=%23TEDWomen&ref=hyperallergic.com "#TEDWomen")[less than a minute ago](http://twitter.com/anxiaostudio/statuses/12623138495930369?ref=hyperallergic.com "Wed Dec 08 21:42:45 +0000 2010") via [Twitter for BlackBerry®](http://blackberry.com/twitter?ref=hyperallergic.com)[![](http://a0.twimg.com/profile_images/1149274944/anxiao.headshot.headonly.250px_normal.jpg)](http://twitter.com/anxiaostudio?ref=hyperallergic.com)**[an xiao 4.0.2](http://twitter.com/anxiaostudio?ref=hyperallergic.com)**  
anxiaostudio

Part of me thinks this has already happened. I asked An Xiao for a context for this quote at the [TEDWomen](http://conferences.ted.com/TEDWomen/?ref=hyperallergic.com) conference and she provided the following:

> Neshat spoke today about her experience as an artist exiled from Iran. She explained that art and culture are a form of resistance, and that she envied Western artists for not having to think about resistance in their work. The only challenge, though, is that art here in the West can quickly become entertainment instead.