We humans have a habit of destroying what nature and being has provided us. One of the most beautiful phenomena of existence is the postpartum communication of mother and child in nourishing the infant by way of mother’s breast. Unfortunately, modern American society is still entangled with a taboo rooted in the past, and considers this natural act unpleasant.

“Narbaghy” is a collection of works created in protest to this taboo. 

In Persian culture, Narbaghy refers to pomegranates and orchard. Narbaghy of the body is none other than the chest, which brings an infant to emotional intimacy with his or her mother, and also provides many other emotional and immunological benefits.

Narbaghy is a symbolic rendition of the fruit pomegranate, which resembles women's breasts in form. This has deep roots in Iranian traditions. 

In ancient Iran, pomegranate is a symbol of Anahita, the goddess of water, fertility, and giving birth. In her postmodern rendition, Mozaffari uses symbolization to challenge the taboo associated with public breastfeeding.

The society that has no problem with nudity of the fashion model, continues to express ambivalence with mothers breastfeeding in public. A mother’s breasts, in natural development in the first few months after giving birth, provide food for the newborn. This is a most beautiful gift of nature. 

Mojan, by using mixed media and infusing sheets of plexiglass together, is attempting to overcome this taboo, searching for a way to increase awareness and raise social consciousness. A way that will be revealed with changes in dos and don'ts in the collective consciousness.

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* Narbaghy (Pomegranate Fields) is the title of an exhibition that Mozaffari first presented in 2019 at UCI’s Jordan Center for Persian Studies, under the direction of Dr. Touraj Daryaee and support from Mehri Publication and Cista Arts.