Mahsa Attaran - The Gossiping Aunties

خالهِ زَنَک‌بازی با مَهسا عَطّاران

The Gossiping Aunties

A communal experience by Mahsa Attaran in concert with a gallery exhibition of My Heart Is Bloodied for You in the Workshop Gallery at Ball & Socket Arts video by Grady Hearn and Mindplow Video Learn more at: ballandsocket.org The Gossiping Aunties is an intimate gathering created by artist Mahsa Attaran, who reclaims the gendered Persian term khâleh-zanak-bâzi and transforms it into a space of tenderness, cultural reflection, and shared understanding. In Farsi, khâleh-zanak-bâzi literally means “auntie-woman-play,” and it has long been used to describe gossiping — often in a way that dismisses women’s conversations as trivial or frivolous. Mahsa turns this assumption on its head. In this experience, the so-called “auntie chatter” becomes something deeper: a ritual of connection, a circle of listening, and a place where private stories are honoured rather than diminished. What was once a derogatory phrase becomes a site of cultural memory, care, and collective insight. The experience begins with a screening of a five-minute short film from Mahsa Attaran’s cookbook project, Ja Oftadan (“Settle In”). After the film, attendees are welcomed into a warm ritual of togetherness: sitting on Persian rugs (no shoes on!), cleaning fresh herbs, preparing a simple Iranian snack — noon, panir, sabzi — and sharing tea and sweets. As hands move through the herbs, the conversation shifts into a different kind of “gossip” — one rooted in honesty, personal storytelling, and gentle reflection on the cultural expectations and labels carried across gender, identity, and lived experience. Participants are invited to speak from wherever they stand, whether they arrive as women, men, queer individuals, immigrants, or anyone navigating layered identities. Everyone is welcome to listen, share, or simply be present. Food becomes ritual. Conversation becomes truth-telling. Gossip becomes connection.

Ball and Socket Arts
February 29th, 2026

Video Credit: Grady Hearn

Photo Credit: Charlotte Chapman