From the moment I wake my thoughts are consumed by what is happening in Iran. My heart is burning. Every painting honours the courage of my sisters in Iran who are risking their life in this moment for their freedom. Every brushstroke is raw from the brutality of the regime that tries and will fail to suppress them. I feel pride and I feel hopeful and so helpless at the same time. I have been painting about Iran since I left the country 18 years ago. I have always painted what I don’t understand; painted what I can’t grasp. But then the paintings takes a life of its own… A painting is never a passive object. They can theorise and reflect on their own nature.

If painting a particular subject can trigger fear of the establishment or even leads to an artist’s imprisonment, the act of painting itself becomes a performance and is an act of resistance. If the product of this act then brings attention to a specific event and in this way speaks the truth, this practice performs witnessing through the visual medium.

Here I am pouring my heart out on to a canvas and post it online; in an act of solidarity and in an act of, well, activism… then meta blocks me from accessing my own creations…If my painting of what is going on in Iran is considered “too violent”; please take a minute to think about the life it was drawn from.

I am determined to help; through my paintings, through lectures, through raising money… I am determined to raise awareness about the situation in Iran and shout about the bravery of these o so fearless young women and men.

Be Omide Azadi