SIGNIFIERS SIGNIFIED
1. Tear Symbolizes emotional stresses, societal pain
The feeling of helplessness and hopelessness
2 Red Dress Associated with Balochi weddings,
Symbolizes Death, stability, and security after marriage
3 Closed Mouth: Symbolizes Gender Inequality, discrimination
4 Hand over Mouth: Control over female desires, goals wishes, and life
Symbolizes Female lives in Cage and patriarchy
5 Gold: Symbolizes designing of Bride and wedding
6 Embroidery: Associated with Balochi Cultural dress of Females
7 قبوال هے: Texts foreshadows last ceremony of the wedding; Acceptance.
Semiotic Analysis: This painting was created by Shamima Umer Askani, a female student at the University of Turbat. She presented it during the Art Exhibition Program at the University of Turbat (2020), to criticize and raise awareness about child marriage and gender inequality in society. This mouthless art, full of ironic symbols, reveals a great truth and serves as a symbol of resistance.
Above all, and most importantly, the dresses with women’s embroideries depict the Baloch people’s society. Because embroidery with eye-catching designs, such as those depicted in the painting, has always been common among Baloch women. Furthermore, two females with vastly different personalities are depicted. First, a bride is depicted as a girl with a bursting tear and a red gown. Because the red dress is commonly worn at weddings, and the text written on the hand represents the final ceremony of marriage in which the woman is asked to demonstrate the take of her heart, either to reject or accept the marriage. This text represents how she is being forced to accept the groom as her life partner due to the cruel hand of families and society. On the other hand, the headless woman in blue dress represents the mother of a daughter who is working with the male to destroy her daughter’s life by forcing her to marry during her schooling and education. She is portrayed without a head as to criticize that children are being forced to marry without reckoning.
Another symbol in the painting is the woman’s hand, which is depicted over the young girl’s mouth, revealing the death of the girl’s desires, goals, wishes, and dreams. Death, her desire to wear a uniform and walk down the path of school with her brother, or her childhood dream of becoming a doctor. Most importantly, this hand represents gender inequality. Ironically, it is depicted to condemn this culture of killing girls’ dreams and incarcerating them in a way less prison of resistance.
Further to that, the girl’s “closed mouth” is portrayed as evidence of gender inequality and unbridled discrimination against female rights. In today’s society, females are sidelined and looked at as orphan children while decisions about their lives are made in their families.
Moreover, redness of the eyes and bursts of tears are two psychological signifiers associated with pain, stress, emotion, and feelings of hopelessness and helplessness. She is crying because she is helpless because her guardian angel’s mother is ignoring her dreams because her dreams are bursting, hopes of her wings are being cultured, and most painfully, she is dying, mentally, socially, and physically. In other words, she is foreshadowing and imagining her own death.
To summarize, this painting speaks volumes without using a single word. It is a sign of resistance that is raising and revealing a young girl’s catharsis. In a nutshell, it is a critique of child marriage culture, gender inequality, and gender discrimination. In summary, it depicts the death of a girl in a dream she had while looking at the sky at night as a child. As a result, this painting is a scathing indictment of child marriage in general.