Strand For Women
A recurring collective exhibition and global art project in support for Woman Life Freedom. Visit the Strand For Women website.
@ Laurent Edeline
© Atelier Prune Nourry
Strand For Women is a collective exhibition and global art project in support of #WomanLifeFreedom.
Around the world, women are united by their common struggle against systemic oppression. Globally, there is a continuity in efforts to control women’s bodily autonomies.
On September 16, 2022, the innocent life of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish Iranian woman, was taken while in the custody of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s morality police. Her death ignited #WomanLifeFreedom. In Afghanistan, the Taliban’s return to power in 2021 led to sweeping restrictions on women’s rights, barring them from education and even prohibiting them from singing in public.
In Persian Mythology, hair is symbolically linked to life, which is why Strand For Women uses hair as a symbol of our shared humanity. We hope this exhibition ignites our collective communities as we #StrandForWomen.
Around the world, women are united by their common struggle against systemic oppression. Globally, there is a continuity in efforts to control women’s bodily autonomies.
On September 16, 2022, the innocent life of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish Iranian woman, was taken while in the custody of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s morality police. Her death ignited #WomanLifeFreedom. In Afghanistan, the Taliban’s return to power in 2021 led to sweeping restrictions on women’s rights, barring them from education and even prohibiting them from singing in public.
In Persian Mythology, hair is symbolically linked to life, which is why Strand For Women uses hair as a symbol of our shared humanity. We hope this exhibition ignites our collective communities as we #StrandForWomen.
@ Atelier Prune Nourry
At the time of the abduction, Nourry was taking the Terracotta Daughters–her army of 108 Chinese girls, sculpted in the tradition of the Xi’an clay warriors, a hybrid embodiment of girls unborn due to birth selection in China–around the world (Shanghai, Paris, New York, Mexico City).
It is then that she decided to initiate the collaborative project of a new army for the girls of Chibok. Statues Also Breathe is the vein of her previous projects, which explore scientific aberrations and human selection (Procreative Dinners, 2009–2013) or gender imbalances (Holy Daughters, 2010–2013; Terracotta Daughters, 2012–2030), Prune Nourry set out to shed light on the “missing” girls of Nigeria: 276 girls from the Chibok region, kidnapped from their high school in 2014 by Boko Haram Islamist fighters, to be married by force. Today, 108 of these girls, the “Chibok girls,” are still missing.
Strand For Women is a collaborative effort led by artists, advisors and friends of the project.
The first activation of Strand For Women was organized by artists Homa Emami, Shirin Neshat, Cima Rahmankhah and Prune Nourry. It opened on March 8, 2023—paying tribute to the Iranian women who, on International Women’s Day in 1979, took to the streets of Tehran in protest.
Strand For Women was presented in Spring 2025 by Catharsis Arts Foundation and the Invisible Dog as part of their residency at Atelier Jolie, NYC. The 2025 activation extends the support network to women in Afghanistan. It features works by Niyoosha Ahmadikhoo, Eileen Ahmadpour, Maryam Ashrafi, Mahka Eslami, Homa Emami, the Ethical Fashion Initiative, Parwana Haydar, Parisa Karimi, Kubra Khademi, Shirin Neshat, Cīmá Rahmankhah, Sayeh Sarfaraz, Lale Sayoko, Hadieh Shafie, Soraya Sharghi, Zolaykha Sherzad, Zarif Design, Newsha Tavakolian as well as collaborations with the Malala Fund, End Gender Apartheid, I-WILL and the Victims Families for Transitional Justice.
Strand For Women was presented in Spring 2025 by Catharsis Arts Foundation and the Invisible Dog as part of their residency at Atelier Jolie, NYC. The 2025 activation extends the support network to women in Afghanistan. It features works by Niyoosha Ahmadikhoo, Eileen Ahmadpour, Maryam Ashrafi, Mahka Eslami, Homa Emami, the Ethical Fashion Initiative, Parwana Haydar, Parisa Karimi, Kubra Khademi, Shirin Neshat, Cīmá Rahmankhah, Sayeh Sarfaraz, Lale Sayoko, Hadieh Shafie, Soraya Sharghi, Zolaykha Sherzad, Zarif Design, Newsha Tavakolian as well as collaborations with the Malala Fund, End Gender Apartheid, I-WILL and the Victims Families for Transitional Justice.
People participating in the hair collection at Atelier Jolie, 57 Great Jones Street, NYC in 2025.
© Argenis Apolinario
© Argenis Apolinario
In 2023, answering a call for support for international artists, Prune Nourry launched a Global Art Project for Strand For Women: an ongoing and participative artwork collecting strands of hair from all genders across the globe, in support for #WomanLifeFreedom.
Participating artists of Strand For Women include:
Niyoosha Ahmadikhoo
Eileen Ahmadpour
Maryam Ashrafi
Homa Emami
Mahka Eslami
Parwana Haydar
Parisa Karimi
Kubra Khademi
Shirin Neshat
Prune Nourry
Andrew Ondrejcak x Zarif Design
Cīmá Rahmankhah
Lale Sayoko
Sayeh Sarfaraz
Hadieh Shafie
Soraya Sharghi
Zolaykha Sherzad | Zarif Design
Newsha Tavakolian
Niyoosha Ahmadikhoo
Eileen Ahmadpour
Maryam Ashrafi
Homa Emami
Mahka Eslami
Parwana Haydar
Parisa Karimi
Kubra Khademi
Shirin Neshat
Prune Nourry
Andrew Ondrejcak x Zarif Design
Cīmá Rahmankhah
Lale Sayoko
Sayeh Sarfaraz
Hadieh Shafie
Soraya Sharghi
Zolaykha Sherzad | Zarif Design
Newsha Tavakolian
The collaborators of Strand For Women, 2025 are:
End Gender Apartheid
I-WILL
The Malala Fund
The Victims’ Families for Transitional Justice
Our deepest gratitude goes towards the Afghan and Iranian girls and women who continue to learn, dream, and resist.
To the more than 2,000 participants across the world, of all ages and genders, who sent their hair strands in 2023 and to all of those who will participate in the global art project this year and in the future, we are very grateful for your participation in the Global Art Project. Thank you for showing up for #WomanLifeFreedom.
We are especially grateful to the Victims’ Families for Transitional Justice and I-WILL for their participation in this edition of Strand For Women. Thank you for sharing your stories and for the greatly important objects of the Memories Left Behind collection. Your work is at the very core of this effort to raise support and awareness.
With special thanks to the wonderful people who put a lot of time and care into the 2025 edition of Strand for Women. Saman Arbabi, Virginie Chabran, Sheida Ellini, Sahar Halaimzai from Malala Fund, Metra Mehran, Gissou Nia, Sepideh Moafi, Andrew Ondrejcak, Delphine Schwartzbrod, Rahela Sidiqi of Rahela Trust, Azadeh Taj, Layla Yarjani, Nargis Zadran, Humayun Zadran. With appreciation to Humaira Wakili, Mahina Martinson, and Emily DeVivo for their support.
We have deep appreciation for all those who have worked on the 2025 edition of Strand For Women: Henry Armstrong, Ben Dooley, Sara Faizi, Avia Hurley, Celia Jane, Vincent Lorca, Luna Martin, Jaimie Scatena, Takao Shiraishi, Todd Stewart, Giulia Teodoli, Carter Williams, Lucien Zayan, Pierre Zet.
The Atelier Jolie family, Helen Aboah, Qori Camargo, Giancarlo Cipri, Noelle Heriveaux, Joseph Holley-Beaver. The Catharsis Arts Foundation family, Paige Bakke, Elisalex d’Albis, Emeline Foster, Tatyana Franck, Claude Grunitzky, Prune Nourry, Kleo Mitrokostas. The Invisible Dog family, Anton Manzhirony, Izzy Ierman, Ana Watterson, Lucien Zayan.
We are grateful for all the beautiful relationships that have grown with the making of this exhibition. Thank you for all the conversations we shared and for so carefully building this activation together. We thank all participating artists for joining forces for Strand For Women 2025.
We thank all participating artists for joining forces for Strand For Women 2025.
To the more than 2,000 participants across the world, of all ages and genders, who sent their hair strands in 2023 and to all of those who will participate in the global art project this year and in the future, we are very grateful for your participation in the Global Art Project. Thank you for showing up for #WomanLifeFreedom.
We are especially grateful to the Victims’ Families for Transitional Justice and I-WILL for their participation in this edition of Strand For Women. Thank you for sharing your stories and for the greatly important objects of the Memories Left Behind collection. Your work is at the very core of this effort to raise support and awareness.
With special thanks to the wonderful people who put a lot of time and care into the 2025 edition of Strand for Women. Saman Arbabi, Virginie Chabran, Sheida Ellini, Sahar Halaimzai from Malala Fund, Metra Mehran, Gissou Nia, Sepideh Moafi, Andrew Ondrejcak, Delphine Schwartzbrod, Rahela Sidiqi of Rahela Trust, Azadeh Taj, Layla Yarjani, Nargis Zadran, Humayun Zadran. With appreciation to Humaira Wakili, Mahina Martinson, and Emily DeVivo for their support.
We have deep appreciation for all those who have worked on the 2025 edition of Strand For Women: Henry Armstrong, Ben Dooley, Sara Faizi, Avia Hurley, Celia Jane, Vincent Lorca, Luna Martin, Jaimie Scatena, Takao Shiraishi, Todd Stewart, Giulia Teodoli, Carter Williams, Lucien Zayan, Pierre Zet.
The Atelier Jolie family, Helen Aboah, Qori Camargo, Giancarlo Cipri, Noelle Heriveaux, Joseph Holley-Beaver. The Catharsis Arts Foundation family, Paige Bakke, Elisalex d’Albis, Emeline Foster, Tatyana Franck, Claude Grunitzky, Prune Nourry, Kleo Mitrokostas. The Invisible Dog family, Anton Manzhirony, Izzy Ierman, Ana Watterson, Lucien Zayan.
We are grateful for all the beautiful relationships that have grown with the making of this exhibition. Thank you for all the conversations we shared and for so carefully building this activation together. We thank all participating artists for joining forces for Strand For Women 2025.
We thank all participating artists for joining forces for Strand For Women 2025.
Strand For Women was first activated in New York City in 2023.
The Catharsis Arts Foundation led its re-activation in 2025 in New York City.
Our goal is to make the project travel across the globe in the upcoming years.
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