Kiana Hayeri

According to Islamic Shi’a laws in Iran, when a girl turns nine, she is considered to be mature enough to take on life and her religious responsibilities but the definition of these responsibilities varies throughout the country.

‘The day I become a woman’ captures the lives of nine‐year‐old Iranian girls at a turning point of their lives of ‘becoming a woman.’ In a luxurious neighborhood in northern Tehran, the nine‐year‐old one continues to live as many of us in North America have probably experienced our childhood. One may play with a never‐ending pool of toys and receiving a high‐quality education at a private school in Tehran while the Bami girl of my story, who survived the devastating Bam earthquake in 2002 as an infant and Haajar and Leila, the Azeri girls of my story, who survived a recent twin earthquake, struggle with their traumatized jobless parents on welfare. By focusing on this generation and capturing key moments in the lives of these girls as they transition into ‘adulthood,’ I aim to explore a society that is layered with complex culture, religion, history and current events.

The name of the series refers to award-winning film of Marzieh Makhmalbaf, with the exact same title, that is comprised of three interconnected vignettes depicting three women at three stages of life in Iran. 

This was a work in progress... but it never arrived to the finish line (2012)

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