Script and Manifestation of Otherness In artworks by Immigrant women artists from Islamic Countries

Today migration is not only described as geographical phenomenon but also as a cultural one which encompasses themes like identity, language, alienation, nostalgia and roving. These experiences can effect on the process of creating an artwork. The art of immigrants due to displaying important themes and issues is well known worldwide. In this context migrant artists of Islamic countries could demonstrate their artwork in many aspects. One aspect of culture that evolves during migration is language, followed by script. The script is an important part of artworks created by Islamic countries artist’s. In fact, its relevance to the language has made various functions. Among immigrant artists, women artists have also chosen calligraphy as an important element of their work. The main question of this article is that what is the reason of using script by women migrant artists. By surveying artworks, it is clear that women artists of Islamic countries use the scripts to display their identity and their otherness. Mikhail Bakhtin is one the most important philosophers of the twentieth century. One of his theories encompasses Otherness. He believes human being has always needed another human, in other words human looks to herself/himself in the eyes of the other. This research which has been prepared by descriptive analytical method and by using library sources considers Bakhtin point of view to analyze artworks. Between many works by migrant women artists from Islamic countries: Iran, Iraq, morocco, Egypt, Palestine and Algeria, then 3 artworks by Moroccan, Iranian and Iraqi artists have been selected to be surveyed specifically. Selected artists are Lala Esayyadi, Shirin Neshat, Havy Kahraman. These artists create their artworks in the position of otherness and they want to highlight their otherness also their identity.