http://www.payvand.com/news/09/sep/1265.html
09/24/09
By Tara Nadjd Ahmadi,
Change for Equality, Iran
http://www.we-change.org/english/
I have been active in the Feminist movement in Iran for several
years. During these years, I have come across certain questions, the
answers for which I am still struggling to find. The following are
some examples:
How much and to what extent can I use artistic expression as a
political/social statement?
What is the form and nature of feminist-artistic activism?
What distinguishing factors differentiate between protest art and
other forms of artistic expression?
As a woman and a marginalized member of a patriarchal society, how
can I express my objection to the status quo through the use of art?
The Indifference of Artists to Social Issues in Iran
In a society like Iran where art is viewed as a gift of the gods and
sacred and divine, reducing the position of the artist and artistic
creation to the earthly so that she can address tangible issues
corresponding with real life concerns is not an easy endeavor. The
ability to express and create protest art, so that it objects to the
status quo in a constructive, dynamic and creative manner, rather
than a mere expression of dissatisfaction is extremely difficult, as
in our collective history, whether through writing, culture,
literature, daily conversations, there exists an enormous but
inactive opposition, which has gradually lost its own power. In
essence without the necessary agency intent on creating change the
narrator or the artist has limited and reduced herself to the simple
expression of pain and hardship.
The history of art, literature and music in Iran is filled with a
conservatism and heroism which seeks to glorify the collective
identity and history and is less focused on social action, as a form
of creating change. It is characterized by a male-oriented history
which pushes to the side all those marginalized allowing in the end
for a hard and solitary entirety to rise up in a central position,
leaving no space for the marginalized to be seen or heard. This form
of art has been promoted by governments and dominant religious elites
as the official art, and as such has at once captured all viewers.
The "official" art sector which is rooted in religion and
spirituality has in past years with the support of men in power
elevated the artist to a celestial and godlike creator who free of
worldly affairs recreates sacred texts and tales with a moral
message. Calligraphy based on sacred texts, and the retelling of the
stories of the prophets and saints through religious passion plays or
Tazieh is a part of this general trend in Iranian art.
Given such a cultural and historical background a large number of
artists in recent years have taken refuge in their private homes and
in the recesses of their own minds to describe the world outside
through paranoid poetic illustrations. In an effort to escape
censorship imposed on their descriptions of the world which often
only encompasses their immediate surroundings and about which they
are most often grumbling, it remains unclear where and to what their
dark and bitter images refer. Is it true that to fight censorship, we
must censor ourselves?
The Historical Use of Art in Protest
The Dadaists expressed their opposition and protest to the existing
artistic trends of their time, through conducting acts which were
against cultural norms in public spacessomething that later in the
context of art history came to be known as anti-art. In so doing,
they had a clever goal. The Dadaists, having been denied the use of
theatre halls and art galleries, would impose their own presence in
public spaces. In small groups and without use of décor, a stage or
even a specific written play, they would begin speaking. They would
show films which were in clear opposition to the dominant culture
promoted by the bourgeois artistic community. Whenever they did not
have the opportunity to perform or show their art, the Dadaists would
use their own bodies, as a representation of that which did not
conform to the acceptable norm of dress, culture and behavior, to
express their opposition. In between their short performances or
films, they would recite the speeches of politicians from newspaper
clippings, exactly as they had been printed, but delivered in a
manner that would compel the audience into fits of laughter, or even
at times would end in verbal and physical fights and arrest by police.
With their creative and lively approach, the Dadaists would work to
undermine the existing order of society and they did this through
their unusual and unnatural presence in public spaces. They imposed
their opposition through their unique presence in public spaces. With
great courage, they would laugh at themselves and at others and
through unusual acts and endless jokes. In so doing, they quickly
turned into a threat to the aesthetics beliefs of the artistic elites
of their day and the culture of museums and theatre of the
bourgeoisie. Their films and theatrical performances were full of
strange and moving criticisms. Their approach was so effective in
fact that for the first time and in a serious manner they put forth
the thesis of anti-aesthetic as valued criteria for artistic expression.
The organizers of the play "Bread and Puppet" in the United States in
the 1960s can also be classified as another group who utilized street
performances and protest art as a means to express their ideas. The
play "Bread and Puppet" served as a model for a number of young
theatrical groups who felt the need to work outside the traditional
artistic community and traditional art organizations to address the
immediate developments in society and their own daily lives. This
play was in touch with the anti-racist and anti-war movements. In
essence this new tradition turned its back to the dominant artistic
tradition of theatre performed in coffee houses and churches, a
tradition which imposed specific methods and places for forms of
theatrical expression. In reality this new approach for creative
expression was an attempt to exit the traditional forms and structure
of theatre. These radical movements did not receive financial support
from foundations. This style of art had its own special
characteristics as well. Costly costumes, set decorations, and
lighting, were non existent in this new form. The actors freely
expressed their own personalities. There was no specific script
limiting the dialogue of the actors. The scripts were developed
through the process of working on the play and were developed in
their shortest forms. This new tradition was based on action, rather
than dialogue.
This theatre group had a different style of performance. One was
street performance, which was performed in a radical manner, with
differing storylines and even at times improvised. On occasion and in
response to certain social and political developments the theatre
group would stage small symbolic street protests. While these
protests may have not had much impact or may have not received much
press, still they can be viewed as worthy efforts even on a small
scale to question the existing political order and to ridicule and
damage the existing power structure.
For example, in these protests, the protesters would carry small
plastic bags filled with blood, and at an appropriate time, when the
police was ready to attack the crowd with batons the protesters would
pour the blood on their heads. The Guerrilla theatres of "Mark
Sterin" which lacked actors in their traditional sense would use
protesters to express concerns. These protesters would paint the flag
of Vietnamese Freedom Front on US Mail Boxes to voice their objection
to the war, or they would write slogans on restaurant menus or paint
cars. In this way Guerrilla theatre worked to undermine the dominant
structure of society and through the use of theatre and performances
would work to express and critique reality. Art is not necessarily
the demonstration of a reality rather it is action, the creation of
an event which strives to be the catalyst for change. The act of
pouring blood on the heads of protesters and onlookers, seeks to
demonstrate the oppressive nature of the American Regime in its
purest and most direct form and through the use of irony. The lapse
of time between the lifting of the threatening batons and its landing
on the intended target, looses its intensity and significance through
this act of protest and resistance.
In 1970 twelve members of the "Bread and Puppets" theatre separated
from their colleagues to form another street theatre group, with a
new message and different approach at raising issues of social
concern. This group moved through the streets intent on creating and
performing street plays addressing women's rights. They built their
dolls themselves, produced and distributed leaflets, and newspapers
which used a significant amount of drawings and pictures to relay
their message. Their protest style, unlike that of the Dadaists, was
not based on discussion and debate and the creation of pandemonium.
In fact when local council members showed up for discussion and
debate, the theatre group would leave their location, because they
did not perceive debate as part of their responsibility. Rather they
viewed their responsibility as one focused on creating and igniting
debate, in an environment where debate and discussion had been forgotten.
Their protest marches were colorful and filled with satire and
comedy. They aimed to change art into social commentary, transforming
it from a beautiful illusion to a biased witness of the injustices of
the real world. This transformation was based on the exit of art from
an environment defined by ideological rhetoric which claimed that
should be autonomous and pure. Street theatre is a good example of
how movements have worked through art to create change. This kind of
action oriented art, intends to impact the audience and their
approach toward and understanding of social realities, rather than
present a good play on stage.
It is such that in the twentieth century different forms of social,
political, revolutionary, and movement arts appear with the aim of
impacting various segments of society and social and political
developments through the establishment of close relationships with
their intended audiences. In visual arts we can point to
environmental art, or "happenings," performance art and street theatre.
Through these developments theatrical performances because of their
dynamic relationship with the audience finds a broader and new place
for itself. Theatre moves from limited and closed theatre halls and
the stage to find a place among the people, so that it can begin to
address social concerns, and in so doing finds a simple and communal
language through which to communicate with its audiencethe ordinary public.
Contemporary feminist movements have commonly utilized these artistic
strategies and have tried to relay their issues through use of drama
in a manner designed to excite the audience. The following are some
examples of this type of effort:
In 1968 a US beauty pageant winner started a protest designed to
protest the objectification of women by the media. During the course
of this protest, in a symbolic move, women began throwing articles of
clothing and accessories, such as hair clips, purses, belt buckles,
tight clothing, stockings, and high heels in a garbage can. This
action-based performance was shared with ordinary people on the
street, who in response also took part in the protest.
In the 1990s a group of female artists, writers and poets initiated a
project by the name of "Silent Witness" in an effort to protest the
increasing number of women murdered by their partners. This group
built about 27 simple wooden statues and carved the name of a woman
who had been victimized as a result of domestic violence on each of
the statues. "Silent Witness" members holding these statues then
marched through the streets of their city. The success of this
project was such that in 1997 fifty US states had acquired a
collection of statutes. According to the members of "Silent Witness"
their goal was to reduce the number of murders resulting from
domestic violence to zero by the year 2010.
In 2003 a coalition of women activists, in an effort to protest US
war policies and expenditures, utilized an innovative awareness
raising approach. The members of this Coalition calculated the amount
of contribution of each individual tax payer toward defense spending,
and distributed copies of tax returns with the amount of individual
contribution toward defense spending to citizens across the city of
New York. Additionally the members of this Coalition used comparative
figures demonstrating how these expenditures could be used otherwise
to provide assistance to poor women and children.
In 2007 one of the most recent examples of such actions took place in
front of the US Congress in Washington, DC. In this performance,
which aimed to protest the war, approximately 40 persons dressed in
sheep's clothing and set out to engage with ordinary citizens and onlookers.
While many of these efforts do not meet the necessary criteria to be
considered as an artistic act in its classical and purest of forms,
they still enjoy an essential element of creativity and protest which
seeks to engage and is able to impact thought in ways similar to a
live performance.
Contemporary Iranian Feminist Artists
The contemporary cinema of Iran, which addresses socials concerns and
has received much acclaim for its creativity faces many challenges.
Most notable of the challenges faced by Iranian cinema is censorship,
such as that witnessed with respect to the screening of the works of
Jafar Panahi, the censoring of women's singing, lack of ability to
address the concerns of or even the existence of homosexuality, and
lack of space for the expression of the most basic of women's
demands. In fact, the censorship is so great that often the
consequences of speaking about issues which are deemed to be taboo
include interrogations and imprisonment.
Women's issues in particular are viewed as highly political in Iran.
Approximately 50 of my closest friends in the One Million Signatures
Campaign have been arrested due to their activism on behalf of
women's rights. Two of these women were arrested and subsequently
spent two weeks in prison while photographing a street play on polygamy.
Despite all these pressures small groups of feminist artists insist
on continuing with the production of their works. They create short
videos with feminist themes which are shown in private galleries and
gatherings. They create posters and clips designed to protest the
arrest of their friends or to express their demands for women's
rights. They create short documentaries which are shot covertly, or
like Raha Asgarizadeh, who took photographs of a feminist street play
a few minutes before she was arrested, they work to document social
events addressing women's rights through art. These artistic
productions speak of a new type of visual arts in Iran, a feminist
art, which seeks to move in opposition to the status quo and through
its mere persistence and resistance seeks to express itself.
These are artistic creations which will in all likelihood never be
archived and registered, and will in all likelihood escape notice by
most Iranian art historians and art sponsors, who are accustomed to
the usual and predominant forms of artistic creation and expression
and like to view paintings in galleries, films in cinemas, and
posters on main city billboards.
Creative Action
Presentation of art on the street is one of the most notable examples
of the dialogue of art with the public and one of the main strategies
for breaking free of the closed space and elite nature of the arts,
to develop a direct and unmediated relationship with society as a
whole. Compared to art which is presented in galleries or theatres,
where the audience chooses with awareness to engage with art, street
art through a different form imposes itself on a broad public
audience which is diverse in nature and background.
The presence of protest in the form of art on the streets in
societies with unpopular and undemocratic governments is viewed as
highly political and is therefore controlled and limited. Despite
this reality, the street or public sphere remains the most viable
option in terms of physical space for expression of protest,
especially for those who are denied the space to express even the
slightest of dissent.
The presence and the showing of films on walls in the street and in
public spaces by protest groups is a concept unfamiliar and possibly
incomprehensible to those of us who have not had the opportunity for
take advantage of public spaces for the simplest forms of
expressions. Still the showing of a few short independent street
plays with limited news coverage in Tehran, demonstrates that the
presence of independent art groups intent on expressing their demands
and working to create change is possible.
These types of artistic expressions can take shape through
interaction and in direct relation to other dissenting forces and
social and political movements. Because art in its most common and
typical form is a part of the stale cultural industry and works to
justify and promote the status quo, even protest art will be assessed
based on and in relation to the dominant and common political
structure. Ultimately protest movements must seek to create and
promote art that is spontaneous, low cost, and educationalcinemas of
sorts which correspond to the nature of the movement and offer
innovative and new commentary and interpretations of what is not
readily visible or perceived as valuable. Promoters of "happenings"
through similar experiences have denounced artistic values which
ultimately end in justifying and confirming the interests of existing
political systems. In their view artistic works are not that useful
or sustainable, and as such they should be used to create a
development or happening that impacts the perception and thinking of
the audience.
Another factor which differentiates protest art is its style of
presentation. In essence the presentation style of this type of art
is a major characteristic defining its identity and its ability to
have impact through protest. Because those groups who create protest
art tend to lack financial resources, poverty for them has
transformed into a necessary strategy for resisting the status quo.
They use low cost spaces such as garages, inexpensive public halls,
empty houses, demolished buildings or ultimately the street for their
performances. This type of presentation results in discussion and
debate and ultimately because of its shock effect and ability to
impact social perception can be viewed as an effort working to bring
about a cultural revolution.
For example, this style of presentation in theatre and film, despite
its impact cannot endure a long life, because there is lack of
understanding and often resentment on the part of the audience, who
is accustomed to viewing film and theatre in large and
technologically modern theatre halls. The discomfort felt among the
audience with respect to the form of presentation can also be viewed
positively in terms of the impact this approach may have on
undermining the concept of maximizing profits in capitalist societies
or even questioning the usefulness of technology. So if the aim of
this style of film and theatre and their presentation is to create a
spark of thought, which is exemplified in the reaction of the
audience, then it has been successful even if on a small scale.
Protest art uses the concept of games as a strategy for impact as
well. While a game in and of itself may not be useful in igniting
thought and discussion or creating change, in this form it can serve
the aims of protesters. The light and lively atmosphere created
through games allows the audience to abandon its belief system
imposed by a dominant political and patriarchal structure and begin
to ask questions. The disobedience that exists in games and then the
presentation of ideas and invitation for scrutiny through the
presentation of artistic works breaks the sacred male value system.
Games as described by Grisbakh, lack strict rules and the need for
technical knowledge and allow us to exit our own experiences and
perceptions. By positioning games in the public view, even through an
unaesthetic form, the artistic work is able to have impact even
through the creation of discomfort.
Today despite all the limitations women's rights activists and
feminist movements face in Iran, art has opened up a new path for the
presentation of ideas and for establishing relationships with our
intended audience. Art allows us to connect with people, while
providing a cover so that we can hide from the scrutinizing gaze of
governments intent on stopping us. Art combined with a feminist
message has allowed us to break the stillness of closed spaces and
enter the public sphere, through street theater addressing women's
issues, through visual representations of women's struggles and
through the power of the internet. We have started an important
journey in Iran, but still have a long way to go.
--
Sources:
1-Théâtre de " Pain et poupée " œuvre de Françoise Korileski publie
par Ghatreh,2004
2-Dada art and anti art, Hans Richter, Thames & Hadson, 2001 3-Dada
and surrealism, Mattew Gale, PHAIDON, 2002
4-Attaque contre la situation existante, Sabient fon Direkeh, 2002
5-Politiques dans les rues, Asef Bayat, Shirazeh, 2000
6-Théâtre expérimental,James Roose-Evans,2003
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