Shirin Neshat presents a new film trilogy, *Do U Dare!*, at the 16th-century Palazzo Marin in Venice alongside the Biennale. The work explores exile, fractured identity, and power through a female protagonist whose public isolation transforms into empowered expression in private. The trilogy is directly inspired by the story of Nasim Aghdam, an Iranian American known as the 'YouTube Shooter,' who in 2018 attacked YouTube's headquarters before taking her own life. Neshat interprets Aghdam's double life as a recluse and a social media star, focusing on the unstable boundary between self and performance in digital culture.
The exhibition matters because it continues Neshat's decades-long investigation of paradoxes and dualities—submission versus rebellion, exile versus belonging—while engaging with a contemporary tragedy that highlights the intersection of mental health, social media censorship, and artistic expression. By situating the work in Venice during the Biennale, Neshat draws attention to how digital isolation and real-world violence can emerge from the same pressures that drive artistic creation. The show also underscores the ongoing relevance of Iranian diaspora perspectives in global contemporary art.