Nickzad Nodjoumi, Nasrin Navab, Narges Bajoghli and Zahida Membrado

The protests sparked in Iran in September 2022 to claim more rights and freedoms were transformed globally into the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, which involves artists from around the world. These uprisings evoke a legacy of protest art in Iran that can be traced back to the months leading up to the 1979 Revolution, a crucial moment when large cross-sections of Iranian society demanded revolutionary change. A retrospective look at the last few years of Iran's history allows us to understand the role played by Iranian artists in this quest for freedom and change and allows us to broaden our view of the current situation of these movements and the artistic richness that accompanies them.

Together with the Revolutionary Art research group at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Chicago, funded by the Provost’s Discovery Award from Johns Hopkins University, this program proposes a look at contemporary Iran through the fundamental role played by protest art.

A video on the history and legacy of Group 57 and protest art in Iran will be shown at the beginning of the event.

This program also includes the seminar The Echo of a Revolution. Voices of Protest in Iran.