Shirin Neshat's Do U Dare! at Palazzo Marin Explores Exile and Digital Identity

Shirin Neshat presents Do U Dare!, a film trilogy at Palazzo Marin in Venice, running from 8 May to 6 September alongside the Biennale. The work follows a female protagonist in New York who shifts from passive public existence to empowered interiority, rendered in black-and-white and color. Neshat draws inspiration from Nasim Aghdam, the Iranian American 'YouTube Shooter' who attacked YouTube headquarters on 3 April 2018. Aghdam, a recluse and vegan activist, had a double life as a social media star. Neshat identifies with Aghdam's experience of exile and isolation. The trilogy examines the boundary between self and performance in digital culture. Each film occupies a different room in the 16th-century palazzo, contrasting with 18th-century frescos. Neshat won the Golden Lion at the 1999 Biennale for Turbulent and the Silver Lion for Women Without Men at the Venice Film Festival. The exhibition is organized by Banca Ifis and Associazione Genesi, presented by Gladstone Gallery and Lia Rumma Gallery.