Iranian contemporary art is renown and appreciated by the international art venues where it has been introduced by Shirin Neshat’s performances and photos of veiled women covered by Persian-Arabic calligraphy. 
This exotic aspect is highly coveted by the global art markets, while in Iran many criticize this neo  Orientalistic approach by calling it “ciador art”, as the veil is its main protagonist. Critics maintain that the West interest in an art characterized by ethnic alterity and burden with issues of sexual inequality penalizes the developing of a universal language among the contemporary Iranian artists. 
This paper explores the ethnic and gender boundaries in which Western market confines Iranian contemporary art and the way in which the Western discourse is colonizing Iranian artists.(Mondi Migranti, giugno 2014)