Saqi Books presents Woman Life Freedom: Voices and Art from the Women’s Protests in Iran

With Tasalla Tabasom, Fari Bradley, Roshi Rouzbehani and Malu Halasa

Extolling the power of art, writing and body politics this collection is a universal rallying call and a celebration of the women the regime has tried and failed to silence.

This highly original and savagely topical event will include a live art and sound art performance by Tasalla Tabasom and Fari Bradley, an art-style documentary video, a presentation from artist Roshi Rouzbehani, a panel discussion hosted by Malu Halasa and an exhibition of artwork.

This is what protest looks like.

Saturday 1 June, 1.00-3.00pm

Venue: Lakeside Theatre, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, CO4 3SQ
Tickets: £10 / £8 concessions (Students, Under 27s and Unwaged)

Box Office: eventbrite.co.uk

Part of our This Land: Launch Day events on Saturday 1st June at University of Essex. Join us for a day of talks, performances, debates, walks and workshops to mark the 25th Edition of Essex Book Festival and the 60th Anniversary of University of Essex.

Woman Life Freedom image © Shiva Khademi, b. [1998]. Courtesy of Saqi Books

Woman Life Freedom edited by Malu Halasa

Published September 2023

Order a copy of Woman Life Freedom at bookshop.org

Jina Mahsa Amini’s death at the hands of Iran’s Morality Police on 16 September 2022 sparked widespread protests across the country. Women took to the streets, uncovering their hair, burning headscarves and chanting ‘Woman Life Freedom’ – ‘Zan Zendegi Azadi’ in Persian and ‘Jin Jîyan Azadî’ in Kurdish – in mass demonstrations. An explosion of creative resistance followed as art and photography shared online went viral and people around the world saw what was really going on in Iran.

Woman Life Freedom captures this historic moment in artwork and first-person accounts. This striking collection goes behind the scenes at forbidden fashion shows; records the sound of dissent in Iran where it is illegal for women to sing unaccompanied in public; and walks the streets of Tehran with ‘The Smarties’ – Gen Z women who colour and show their hair in defiance of the authorities, despite the potentially devastating consequences. Extolling the power of art, writing and body politics – both female and queer – this collection is a universal rallying call and a celebration of the women the regime has tried and failed to silence.

This is what protest looks like.

About the Author

Malu Halasa is the editor of eight anthologies on Middle Eastern art and culture. Her edited volumes include the critically acclaimed Syria Speaks: Art and Culture from the Frontline, Woman Life Freedom: Voices and Art from the Women’s Protests in Iran and The Secret Life of Syrian Lingerie: Intimacy and Design. Halasa has written for The Guardian, Financial Times and Times Literary Supplement. She was previously an editor at the Prince Claus Fund in Amsterdam, Editor-at-Large for Portal 9 in Beirut, Lebanon, and a founding editor of Tank Magazine in London. She is currently the literary editor at Middle Eastern arts magazine The Markaz Review.

Photo of Malu Halasa © Priscilla Briggs