Dissident Iranian artists deserve our support
Loathed by its own people, Iran’s theocratic regime has continued to maintain power through the cruel repression of domestic dissent. But subversive Iranian artists — in the Islamic republic and here in Canada — are working to change that.
Since former prime minister Stephen Harper cut off ties with the regime in 2012, Canada has had little diplomatic engagement with Iran. In 2015, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unwisely pledged to re-normalize relations, but those efforts have stalled — especially since the downing of Ukrainian Airlines Flight 752, which killed dozens of Canadians.
With Canada being in limbo on Iran, Iranians in Canada have found their own ways to support their relatives back home. The newly launched Iranian Artists Relief Fund (IARF) is one such initiative, fostering dissident art as a means of advocating for reform.
Launched last year by Hirbod Human and Farnoosh Talaee, two Iranians living in Canada, the IARF provides a platform for dissident artists in Iran to showcase their work in Canada and abroad. Artists are also given mentorship and networking opportunities, a gallery exhibition and training in navigating the global art market.
By amplifying these dissidents’ voices, the IARF circumvents the Iranian government’s attempts to stifle conversations about its legitimacy. The artwork also challenges foreign perceptions of Iran — serving as a reminder that much of the population does not buy into the regime’s religious fundamentalism, and that many Iranians have more cosmopolitan outlooks on life than their mullahs would like.
Art is often used as a form of political speech and can, in some cases, be subversive and consequential — especially in societies where more traditional and direct forms of political expression are tightly regulated.
Iran’s government recognizes this, which is why it ruthlessly censors its artists. Those who make works that are perceived to be critical of the regime risk long prison sentences or execution. As a result, Iran’s domestic cultural scene is dominated by pro-government propaganda and banal Islamism — little else is permitted.
Over the past 10 years, Iran’s art scene has also become a popular means of money laundering for the nation’s elite. Art prices are often inflated so that buyers and sellers can funnel money between themselves without scrutiny. The resulting market distortions further marginalize grassroots art that speaks to everyday Iranian political frustrations.
I interviewed Human and Talaee, co-founders of the IARF, about the relationship between dissident art and political activism. They spoke passionately about how artists use their work to comment on forbidden topics — including human rights, feminism, LGBTQ issues and criticism of mandatory hijabs.
These dissident artists speak about these issues at great personal risk. Tehran enjoys a reputation for a vibrant underground life — a second world where, outside the theocracy’s gaze, people drink and dance. In this world, dissident art is sometimes shown at intimate underground gatherings, but the threat of informers is omnipresent.
Talaee said that, “Those private parties are very scary, and they have to watch the doors and check everything and watch everybody. It is very dangerous for everyone involved.”
Smuggling dissident art out of the country is also not easy, and often involves bribery and sympathetic government officials who are willing to look the other way. Most critical artists face retribution from the state; some have been forced to hide until they can be safely smuggled out of the country.
Tehran’s once-vibrant underground scene has always been made possible by the wide-scale bribery of government officials, but the pandemic, having brought economic ruin to the country, has hollowed that out. Everyday Iranians are finding it harder to afford to buy their clandestine freedoms.
Talaee and Human grew up in Iran — Human was an artist-in-exile himself, who claimed asylum in the United States and only returned to Iran in 2016 to visit his sick mother. He was arrested at the airport but ultimately set free, eventually smuggling his mother out of the country.
While Human does not consider himself a political actor, he wants to ensure that artists are presented without censorship.
Both Talaee and Human are driven by a sense of moral obligation to their people, and have largely paid for the IARF themselves, with some support from other Iranians in Canada and the U.S. So far, the IARF has received no government assistance — but, by all rights, it should.
Canadian foreign policy, in addition to opposing hostile political forces, is built on a commitment to humanitarianism. Supporting dissident voices in repressive regimes is a cost-effective way to affirm both Canada’s self-interest and moral obligations. Empowering Iranians to push for reform also neatly complements Canada’s existing sanction commitments.
Rather than throw more money into the federal bureaucracy or large NGOS, why not fund grassroots initiatives that have already proven themselves to be lean and efficient? Investment in grassroots activism ensures that Iranians are given leading roles in advocating for the destiny of their own people.
Supporting foreign dissent is not a new foreign policy tool. During the Cold War, America’s stalwart defence of Soviet dissenters was remarkably effective at delegitimizing the Soviet Union, and socialism more broadly, by publicizing its brutalities.
The circumstances are different in Iran because, excluding fringe leftists in the West, most people already recognize the regime’s moral bankruptcy. Yet even if solutions are less straightforward, the strategy is still worth a shot. It would likely offend the Iranian government, but why should Canada be concerned about a regime that hangs its domestic critics?