As Iranian artist Maryam Safarzadeh stands in the middle of her curated exhibit Woman Life Freedom, she is filled with gratitude.
The exhibit is in response to the widespread protests in Iran, propelled by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was detained by the morality police for not covering her hair adequately September 2022.
“I couldn’t be silent,” Safarzadeh explained.
Safarzadeh fled Iran with her two children three years ago and settled in Windsor, wanting a better life for her children. When she still called Tehran home, Safarzadeh was never able to share her art the way she wanted to because any critical work could have subjected her to being targeted by the government or possible arrest.
Now that she was in Canada, she recognized she had an opportunity to speak out safely and express herself through “protest art.”
“I have a duty,” she said. “I should [give voice to] the women who are struggling.”
Maryam Safarzadeh opens up about how difficult it would have been to share her art work in Iran, and how it compares to her feelings now, living in Canada.
She took the emotions of watching the unrest unfold in Iran and her concern for the wellbeing of her family — and put it into her art.
Artists coming together
She pitched the idea for a protest art exhibit at the Sho Art, Spirit & Performance gallery and invited other artists to join.
Twenty-eight creators came together from Windsor, Toronto, Vancouver, Michigan and Germany, including four artists from Iran.
Artist and writer Anahita Jamali Rad is among them.
“It was definitely something that I had been thinking about for a long time as an Iranian and hadn’t really had a chance to create anything,” she said.
“There is, you know, obviously lots of like, feelings and thoughts and I found that it was a really good opportunity to put all of that into a creation.”
Digital artist Phillip Olla created a digital art piece using artificial intelligence to symbolize the title of the exhibit.
“It’s the uprising of women around the world. It shows women in various states of distress and one person uprising and everyone following along. And what that tries to tell us is that sometimes it only takes one person to make that statement,” Olla explained.
He added that the work is especially important given what he describes as a regression in women’s rights in parts of the world.
Artist Lorraine Steele created a painting inspired by Mahsa Amini, showing a lock at a woman’s throat that has been unlocked, allowing for her voice to be heard.
“Women light up half the world, so women will illuminate that through this movement. I believe that,” she said, adding that she feels that gender inequality is one of the biggest issues that needs to be addressed this century.
‘I’m so grateful’
Artist Debbie Kay says this is the best exhibit she’s been a part of.
“I was actually so proud, it moved me to tears to see all this beauty. It’s just so raw,” she said.
Safarzadeh said all of the artists were able to connect to the idea of fighting for equality.
“I’m so grateful the way that all of my friends or other artists supported this movement, even though it wasn’t their problem, even though they are not dealing with it, but the way that they supported it, the way that they cared about it. It makes me feel I’m so lucky.”
The show opened at the Sho Art Studios on Tuesday and will be open to the public every day from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. until April 21. The gallery will also host a roundtable conversation on April 15.
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