The world we have been waking up to, in the recent past, seems like a Hollywood/Bollywood blockbuster’s sequel. The storyline is so fast-paced that keeping up requires multiple popcorn breaks. There are, what seems like, serious dialogues which suddenly metamorphose into deadly action. Just as one tries to make sense of it, there’s some comedy thrown in, with politicians throwing tantrums over unreasonable demands. The incredulity brings forth the mirth and just as you begin to relax, along comes nauseating revelations, spilling out of infamous files. It has all been way too much for minds that have grown up on clear plots and slow build-ups to stunts and shootouts.
In the latest, West Asia is up in flames. Missiles are flying and it’s raining bombs. The Supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been killed in airstrikes by the US and Israel and retaliation is fast unfolding. After an iron grip over the land since 1989, what does this and the possibility of a regime change mean to Iranian artists?
Art in Iran, has been existing under a code of strict restrictions, ever since the regime took over in 1979, after ousting the Shah in the Islamic revolution. All forms of culture and art are either repressed or regulated by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic guidance. Exhibitions require prior authorisation and artworks need to adhere to Islamic principles, failing which, they would invite a ban. Any criticism of the government is a definite no-no and means censorship.
Atena Farghadani, was arrested in 2014 for her cartoon that was critical of the Parliament. In prison, she continued drawing on flattened paper cups, leading to her being beaten in custody and sentenced to almost 13 years in jail. Renowned sculptor and painter Parviz Tanavoli, one of the most expensive living Iranian artists, has been subjected to constant harassment, with the government even confiscating his sculptures and passport and forcing the closure of his exhibitions. Little did Iranian cartoonist, Mana Neyestani think that a harmless cartoon of a cockroach asking a simple question ‘What?’ in Azeri would anger members of the community so much that he would be imprisoned. He later used his parole to escape the country. Mehdi Salahshour, a prominent sculptor and recipient of several international awards, was shot dead two months ago, during the two week demonstrations to highlight the Islamic Republic’s weakened economy. He was one among the 2,600 protestors who were brutally killed by direct fire.
For a nation that once proudly embraced its rich art history, from ancient monumental carvings to Persian miniature paintings, the tight control over artistic expression after 1979, has led to artists creating a ‘Third Space’, where codes and metaphors have been used to bypass censorship laws. Neither indulging in open confrontation nor endorsing the State’s ideologies, the Third Space has proved to be a quiet way of countering artistic oppression.
Wars are unpredictable, just like our futures are. The only thing we can hope for is a freer world where peace and sanity prevail and freedom of expression ceases to be a battlefield and is finally, duly acknowledged as a fundamental right.