"In this series of drawings, videos, and sculptures, a juxtaposition of present and past sheds light on women's timeless struggles for freedom.
The Amazons depicted in ancient bas-reliefs, are interpreted by historians as representations of the "Persians" opposing the Greeks. They are thus designated as the Others: the enemies, the barbarians, the weak. I draw a parallel between these antique figures and Iranian women today, whose struggle for freedom is expressed through the movement of their bodies in public space, by dancing and performing athletic gestures. Their weapons are their phones, which capture and disseminate these actions on social media, creating new representations and new meanings of courage and strength in everyday life.
I would like to thank Danielle Lysaught and Paul Hamelin for the year-long residency that marked the beginning of this project in Montreal, the one-month residency at La Napoule, Jean-Philippe Thibault, my everyday ally, and my friends Jean-François Gauthier and Maxime Bruneau for their impeccable technical support." -LZ
This project has received support from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and the Canada Council for the Arts, to whom the artist extends her warmest thanks.
Born in Tehran (Iran), Leila Zelli lives and works in Montréal. She holds an MFA (2020) and a BFA (2016) in Visual and Media Arts from Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). Zelli is interested in the relationship that we have with the ideas of "others" and "elsewhere" and more specifically within this geopolitical space often referred to by the questionable term "Middle East." She creates in situ digital installations using existing images, videos and texts often found on the Internet. The resulting visual and sound experiences create an opportunity to reflect on the state of the world, the relationship with the Other and the actual effect of our actions on humanity.
Her work has been shown, among others, at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (Collection Arts du Tout-Monde), at the Conseil des arts de Montréal (2019-2020), at Galerie de l'UQAM (2020, 2019, 2015, 2024), at Dazibao (2023) at the Foreman Gallery of Bishop's University (2024) and at the Toronto Biennial (2024). In November 2025, her latest video work, titled Each Street Tells The Story of a Fearless Woman, premiered at the Loop Barcelona fair.
Her works are part of Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal collection, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts collection, the Musée Pointe-à-Callière, the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec's Prêt d'oeuvres d'art collection, the Musée d'art de Joliette, the Musée d'art contemporain de Baie-Saint-Paul collection and the collections of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Hydro-Québec and Desjardins. She is the laureate of the 2023 Prix Lynne-Cohen and the 2021 laureate of the Claudine and Stephen Bronfman Fellowship in Contemporary Art.
She wishes to thank Danielle Lysaught and Paul Hamelin for the year-long residency that marked the beginning of this project in Montreal; the one-month residency at La Napoule, Jean-Philippe Thibault, her everyday ally, as well as her friends Jean-François Gauthier and Maxime Bruneau for their impeccable technical support. Her project has received support from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and the Canada Council for the Arts, to whom she extends her warmest thanks.
