"'Land of Dreams’ original concept allegorically addresses the long standing tension between the United State and Iran, and the experience of an immigrant, specifically an Iranian woman living in the middle of a rural area in America. In a highly stylized and surrealistic manner, Simin, the main female Iranian character is a photographer and a dream catcher who collects Americans’ dreams and delivers them to a strange and absurd Iranian colony for interpretation. The project intends to function both as a social/political critique of Iranian and American political systems, while also showing the shared humanity and vulnerability of those living under social, political and economic injustice. In the larger exhibition to be presented at the Broad Museum, this project will pursue my long-standing obsession and interest in the duality in between the ephemeral nature of dreams and the tangible political issues.” - Shirin Neshat 2019

“‘Land of Dreams’ original concept allegorically addresses the long standing tension between the United State and Iran, and the experience of an immigrant, specifically an Iranian woman living in the middle of a rural area in America. In a highly stylized and surrealistic manner, Simin, the main female Iranian character is a photographer and a dream catcher who collects Americans’ dreams and delivers them to a strange and absurd Iranian colony for interpretation. The project intends to function both as a social/political critique of Iranian and American political systems, while also showing the shared humanity and vulnerability of those living under social, political and economic injustice. In the larger exhibition to be presented at the Broad Museum, this project will pursue my long-standing obsession and interest in the duality in between the ephemeral nature of dreams and the tangible political issues.” - Shirin Neshat 2019

'Simin, from Land of Dreams series' (2019) shows the protagonist of the two-channel film 'Land of Dreams' (2021). The film follows an Iranian woman, Simin—Neshat’s alter ego—as she visits a small American community to photograph the local residents and record their dreams. Disguised as an art student, Simin employs a methodology that mirrors Neshat’s own process. Simin then returns to The Colony, an uncanny and secretive Iranian society tucked within a mountain whose members are occupied with receiving, selecting, and analyzing American citizens’ dreams. In hearing the interviewees’ desires and fears—which hardly differ from Simin’s own—cultural and political divisions start to crumble.