Statement: For her new solo show, Atousa Bandeh was inspired by a fictive character in making. An epic figure, the Daughter of Rudabeh. Amidst the pages of the Shahnameh (Book of Kings by Ferdosi), the love story of Rudabeh, the courageous daughter of a Kabul king, and Zal, the son of the Persian monarch, unfurls as a poignant allegory. Zal's birth with alabaster hair—an albino anomaly—leads his father to deem him unfit to ascend the throne./// Left aside and seemingly abandoned, Zal's fate takes an extraordinary twist as he is nurtured and raised by Simorgh, a mythical bird dwelling atop a distant mountain. In a defiance of societal norms and conventions, Rudabeh's love for Zal transcends their fathers' vehement opposition to their union. This union yields fruit as Rudabeh gives birth to a son destined to become a valiant defender of the Iranian realm. Dr. Homayounpour beautifully identifies the contemporary women's movement as the long-awaited manifestation of Rudabeh's daughter—an entity conspicuously absent from the Persian epic. Amidst this nuanced backdrop, Atousa Bandeh embarks on an artistic venture—capturing the stages of Rudabeh's  fictional daughter's life, from inception to maturity and old age. Bandeh delves into the significance of metamorphosis, embracing the tumultuous journey from adolescence to adulthood as a terrain fraught with profound significance. She suggests that the process of maturation resembles a battlefield, devoid of a singular, predefined endpoint. This perspective on life mirrors a wandering odyssey, where the focus isn't solely on the trophy, but rather the journey itself. Intuition emerges as a guiding threat in this adventure. Through her artworks, Bandeh evaluates her own vantage point—an Iranian woman raised amidst the suffocating shadows of fear and oppression. Yet, she adamantly rejects internal submission to regressive paradigms that once imposed ownership of a woman's body, tethering her to another's dominion. This notion of dependence gives way to a resolute stance of empowerment and autonomy. The quest to unveil the hidden image of womanhood is an overarching theme that permeates the entire exhibition, presented as a multimedia installation containing paintings, videos, and objects. Each element reflects upon and interacts with the others, as if the protagonist is engaged in a continuous process of self-discovery and identity refinement. Within a narrative woven with layers of history, resilience, and an unyielding spirit of change, the women of Iran ascend as a testament to the indomitable strength that accompanies the pursuit of justice and equality. Bandeh's artworks mirrors and gives shape to Homayounpour's insightful observations, illuminating the path of progress, hope, and maturation for generations to come.  As the movement evolves, the echoes of Rudabeh's unwritten daughter reverberate, infusing renewed vigor into the fabric of Iranian society and inspiring the world with a narrative of empowerment and transformation. Atousa Bandeh (1968, Iran) lives and works in Amsterdam. Recent exhibitions include: "Tussen Grenzen" at Museum Arnhem (2023); "Global Dialogue" at Bradwolff Projects, Amsterdam (2023); "Doubt" at Lumen Travo Gallery, Amsterdam (2020); "History as Poem", Drents Museum (2018). Her work is part of the collections of Drents Museum and Contemporary Art Museum Arnhem. In 2021-22 Bandeh was appointed Stadstekenaar van Amsterdam (city drawer of Amsterdam).