Farnaz Damnabi “The colors of the dark” of today’s Iran

dwe should turn on i spotlight on the darkness that envelops Iran. Nominee all women in the country for the Nobel Peace Prize for what they suffer and how they are forced to live. It’s not just a matter of veil. At stake is control of the body, mobility and access to the possibilities of life. Since the 1979 Khomeinist revolution, the ayatollahs’ regime has recently exacerbated its most reactionary streak with further restrictions that reinforce discrimination and gender-based violence. The assassination of Jina “Mahsa” Amini has broken the levee of intolerance and anger that seethed under the skin of young Iranians.

Jina “Mahsa” Amini was arrested by the morality police on 13 September on charges of not wearing the veil correctly. She died at the age of 23, after three days in prison and agony, from the consequences of a violent beating. The protest exploded . A raging river that involves and overwhelms.

Iran, a revolution that starts from women but concerns everyone

There is talk of revolution, in the front row there are women, they question the legitimacy of the state in the control over their body through the imposition of the veil and clothing but the protest movement involves the entire population. At stake is the future of Iran. The protest spreads despite media censorship and social blockades, it is now a movement. The repression is violent, involving all the provinces of the country. Amnesty International speaks of 22,000 arrests six months after the protests began. Torture, rape, inhuman conditions of detention, the Islamic Republic is afraid and shows its most ferocious face.

Iranian photographers speak, images like arrows to the heart and mind

From Iran the voice of women also comes through photography: extraordinary, capable of expressing both the existential condition and the social one with their work, the artists create and speak through images. Shirin Neshat’s fame has conquered the world but it is not an isolated case. The black and white testimonies of Hengameh Golestan from 1979 are precious, as is the representation of the Iranian woman by Shadi Ghadirian and the intensity of Gohar Dashti who, with the new generation of authors, shares the freedom of photographic language that borders on genres and invents syncretic forms of storytelling.

If Amak Mahmoodian in his work Zanjir imagine a dialogue with the Persian princess and memoirist Taj Saltaneh Mahmoodian, who lived between the 1800s and 1900s, Newsha Tavakolian represents her country with autobiographical images imbued with political reality for a conscious and poignant story. Tahmineh Monzavi, who has always been interested in social issues, alternates between photography and video. These authors, visionaries of painful narratives, were born after the Islamic revolution, raised according to the principles of the shari’a, the Koranic law which imposes unacceptable discrimination, forced to wear the hijab, the veil, to travel accompanied; they had to deal with the difficulty of accessing education, with the renunciation of public office, with being half of everything: a woman’s testimony is worth half that of a man, as is the legacy for women it is half.

In Milan it opens on May 23 at the gallery 29 ARTS IN PROGRESS the exhibition “Unveiled” by Farnaz Damnabi, one of the youngest authors on the contemporary Iranian scene. We asked her a few questions because she, like her colleagues, places women at the center of her research. Stories of existences, of remote places and unknown cities, every single image conveys a sense of painful discomfort to which the author dedicates a photograph of everyday life, of small gestures in suspended scenarios between past and present.

You were born in 1994, how has your country changed since then?
When I was younger I preferred to study history and hope for the future, now that I’m an adult I’m not sure about the future anymore. I see people are more and more aware and I know that even small changes take time, Iran is in a transition phase.

Is it still a challenge to be born a woman?
Yes it is still a challenge, many have to overcome problems and restrictions from their families or society. I was lucky: my parents are supportive and have never stood in my way. I was born and raised in Tehran, I work here. We are full of talent. If women in other countries achieve something, it is thanks to their commitment. But if Iranian women are to achieve anything, that effort must be much greater.

What do you think art can and should do?
Art expresses feelings but we shouldn’t expect artists to make a revolution. As a photographer I would like to take part in the history of my country because documenting the lives of others is what really fascinates me. © REPRODUCTION RESERVED

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