Woman, Life, Freedom: How the Arts Energized Iran’s Women-Led Uprising

Featuring the screening of the short documentary The Smallest Power (2024), as well as some of the art inspired by the movement, the panel will examine the central role of the arts in the uprising and the ways artistic expression has helped inspire activism and maintain hope. Panelists will also address the question of how women and youth today are continuing to resist repressive measures by the state and imagine a different future for Iran. 

Panelists include: Holly Dagres, senior fellow at The Washington Institute's Viterbi Program on Iran and US Policy; Nagmeh Farzaneh (joining virtually), associate professor of animation at DePaul University and artistic director of the documentary The Smallest Power (2024); Mina Jafari, DC-based artist whose graphics were downloaded by people across the globe in support of the movement; and Dr. Pamela Karimi (joining virtually), associate professor of history of art and architecture at Cornell University and author of Women, Art, Freedom: Artists and Street Politics in Iran (Leuven University Press, 2024). Nazila Fathi, former New York Times journalist and author will moderate the discussion. 

The Smallest Power (2024), an official selection of the Sundance Film Festival and Aspen Shortsfest, follows an Iranian medical resident who risks her life to protect a fellow doctor from arrest by the regime’s police.

This event is part of the public programming supporting the MEI Art Gallery’s current exhibition, Maximal Miniatures: Contemporary Art from Iran, and will be followed by a gallery tour of the show.

SPEAKERS

Artworks above courtesy of Mina Jafari