#142: Change is an ongoing project

Canvas with hair (that has been cut off in protest for, and in solidarity with, the women of Iran), the fabric of removed hijabs, and the ashes of those burned in protest, have been stuck on to form the words: 

See how things are now.  

They were not always so.  

They will not always be so.  

And there will always be more to fight for.  

Be brave, stand together, forever.

In all ways.  

Always.

On the frame are painted the words: ““We are not scared. We are outraged. People think that we are the previous generation – that if they do this we’re going to just stop. We are not going to stop. This is a one-way road for us. They will take even more people into custody, torture them, rape them. This is not the end.” (Unknown Protestor)” and ““O, you martyr, / hold my hands / With your hands / Cut from earthly means / Hold my hands, / I am your poet. / With an inflicted body. / I’ve come to be with you / and on the promised day, / We shall rise again.” (Tahereh Saffarzadeh).” The two quotes run alongside one another, rather than one before the other.

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See also:

Bromwich, Kathryn (2022) A vibrant celebration of Iranian rebel women – in pictures. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2022/sep/24/a-vibrant-celebration-of-iranian-rebel-women-in-pictures (Accessed: 10th October 2022).

Foumani, Maryam (2022) Two decades of Iranian women’s street protests – in pictures. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/gallery/2022/oct/07/two-decades-of-iranian-womens-street-protests-arash-ashourinia-in-pictures (Accessed: 10th October 2022).

Hessel, Katy (2022) Guns, veils, unflinching stares: the banned work about Iran’s female rebels. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/oct/10/veils-banned-iran-mahsa-amini-shirin-neshat-rebellious-silence (Accessed: 10th October 2022).

Jones, Jonathan (2022) Soheila Sokhanvari: Rebel Rebel review – vivacious paintings of liberated Iranian womanhood. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/oct/07/soheila-sokhanvari-rebel-rebel-review-barbican-london (Accessed: 8th October 2022).

Neshat, Shirin (1994) Rebellious Silence [Photograph]. Available at: https://reinterpellations.web.unc.edu/about/neshats-rebellious-silence/neshats-rebellious-silence-essay/#:~:text=Rebellious%20Silence%20is%20a%20photograph,small%20opening%20for%20the%20eyes and https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/global-contemporary-apah/20th-century-apah/a/neshat-rebellious (Both accessed: 10th October 2022).

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Originally posted on The Haberdashery of Imaginary Art on 10th October 2022 but as a part of #137: A Child’s First Visit to a Gallery : An Imaginary Graphic Short Story (An imaginary entry for The Faber/Observer/Comica graphic short story prize 2022).

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