BÊRÎVAN ÎNATÇΠ 

Sulaymaniyah- Maria Penahi is a sculptor and wood carving artist from Eastern Kurdistan (Iranian Kurdistan). She believes that there is a unique bond between humans and nature.

“I learned how to carve wood because the city where I was born is known for its art, the home of literature, music and sculpture,” said Maria Penahî, who has been a wood carving artist since 2009.

“I carve walnut, pear, black ebony, cherry and acacia woods. Each of these trees has a special bond with people. If you establish a bond with them, it takes you to another level. When you think about how these trees grew, you feel that they are a part of you. That time a special bond is established between people and nature.”

Revolutionary women

Maria Penahi got excited while showing each of her works of art. “This work of art shows the same bond. It is a figure of a woman symbolizing revolutionary women in history. I have carved the figures of the ancient Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar and Ninhursag, the Mesopotamian mother goddess of the mountains. I also portrayed Marzieh Ahmadi (Uskulu Marziyya), a revolutionary woman born in the city of Osku, Iran, in 1941. She was an Iranian poet, teacher, revolutionary, and a member of the Organization of Iranian People's Fedai Guerrillas, a political organization that fought against colonialism and the Pahlavi dynasty. She received information about SAVAK officers who heard about the meeting of two members of the group on April 26, 1974, and went bravely to rescue her friends. She was killed in an armed clash with SAVAK.”

One of her works of art depicted the life of Meena Keshwar Kamal, an Afghan revolutionary political activist, women's rights activist and founder of Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA). “She was a revolutionary women, who was assassinated in Quetta, Pakistan on February 4, 1987.”

Pakhshan Azizi and Verisheh Moradi

Maria also carved the figures of Pakhshan Azizi and Verisheh (Warisha) Moradi on wood. “They are two revolutionary women, who are at risk of imminent execution in Iran. All the figures that I have carved tell women’s struggle for freedom, their identity, their society and nature.”

Never ending struggle

Maria’s works of art represent the never ending struggle of women. “Sakine Cansız was a Kurdish revolutionary woman. ‘My whole life was a struggle,’ she said. The name of this work is ‘My whole life was a struggle’, symbolizing the never ending struggle of women.”