Almost every day, news and media cover politics or policy related topics on Iran with a concrete agenda. Behind this coverage, however, there is another voice desperate to be heard. It’s the voice of Iranian artists representing ordinary Iranian citizens. Trying not to be overshadowed by the common misconceptions about Iran, it is not easy to earn a forum for displaying their arts.
Fortunately, many non-Iranian activists who have noticed this phenomenon are turning their interests toward some groundbreaking Iranian artists. One such group is Cultures of Resistance (CoR) an activist network using documentary and film as an outreach tool to promote peace and global justice.
Two short films featured on the CoR website deserve special attention, for they examine more underground and lesser known artists.
Tehran Ratz: Graffiti For a New Iran” takes a look at the works of two young Tehrani graffiti artists who challenge not only the ideologies of the Iranian government, but also question the broader understanding of issues such as peace and justice. While their work is “Iranian” in terms of using exclusively Iranian topics or cultural beliefs and figures, the universality of their painting is evident. This is a notable characteristic of the short film – it uses vivid images of graffiti to show the artists’ awareness of the social issues affecting their lives. In this case, images prove to be more powerful than words.
The film exposes the audience to complex topics that the artists cover, such as gender inequalities, injustice in the legal system, and even war and death. Thus, forcing the viewer to go back and watch it over and over, asking more and more questions and wondering how the youth of a distant culture could produce an art comprehensive for people of all backgrounds.
Tehran Ratz: Graffiti for a New Iran from Cultures of Resistance on Vimeo.
The second short film (and my personal favorite) is called “Iran Inside Out: Explorations at the Chelsea Art Museum.” It looks at five different exhibits displaying the art of Iranian artists residing both inside and outside of Iran. Even though it might just seem like a twelve-minute report on an art exhibition, the short film delves into a much deeper message about how Iranian people want to be portrayed as “human beings’ interested in peace, art, solidarity, and globalization than “oppressed people” or even characterized as the “axis of evil.”
Iran Inside Out: Explorations at the Chelsea Art Museum from Cultures of Resistance on Vimeo.
Given the fact that the Iranian regime heavily controls art and frames every social concept within an Islamic ideology, the bold and controversial topics such as sexuality, ideas of femininity/masculinity, hijab, body image and even clash of generations covered by Iranian artists at times make it impossible to distinguish between the arts coming out of Iran and those produced in America and Europe.
One might argue that art should not be political. However, these short films prove otherwise. The reason is that ordinary Iranian citizens are constantly being influenced and monitored by an oppressive regime, leaving no choice for artists but to overtly produce censored art and covertly produce art full of political notions, activism, and hope.
Finally, what these Iranian artists and Cultures of Resistance activists have in common is the relentless questioning of assumptions and challenging of the stereotypes whether it is in Iran against its government or on the international level against the preconceived ideas about a particular country or a global issue. And for a time when a non-violent democratic movement is the only option for the Iranian youth, what better tool than art to carry the cries of a nation for democracy?
September 8, 2011