Natalie Abbassi is an Iranian-American artist based in North Carolina. In a series of self-portraits entitled "In conflict and consent", Abbassi explores the relationship between her two different identities: This project is a series of self...
Underground art
Little Black Fish: Last week, a video entitled Runway In Subway caught my eye. Filmed on the Tehran Metro, it shows a young girl named Shirin Abedinirad boldly entering a train carriage and asking passengers for their rubbish, in order to pin it...
Tehran’s underground train missionaries
Religious women will be stationed outside of Tehran's underground stations in an effort to enlighten and guide female commuters back on the straight and narrow path. The Chief of Operations of Tehran's Metro system Ali Mohammad Gholiha, told Mehr...
Directive on ‘love triangles’ and ‘half naked men’ issued
With the strict supposedly "moral" codes imposed on Iranian society with increasing conservatism in recent times, this latest directive - banning 'love triangles' and 'half naked men' --- issued to television programme directors this week, strikes...
‘A Separation’ and a new form of censorship in film
Tomorrow, the Cinema Office of Iran's Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance must decide on the country's submission for the Best Foreign Language Film for the 2012 Oscars. The obvious choice would be A Separation, director Asghar Frahadi's...
Iran considers banning Chinese-printed error-ridden Korans
Iranian publishers are reeling after measures to save money when printing the Koran backfired this week. In an attempt to make cheaper, mass distribution editions available, the Holy Book was produced and printed in China. But the copies, already...
12th century epic poem ravaged by Iran’s censors
Iran's Ministry of Culture and Guidance has this week refused publication of Nezami's Khosro and Shirin, a love story read by generations as a classic of Persian literature. Writers and publishers in Iran are well-versed in the language of the...
Tehran to London: Caring for our kids, gesture politics and acts that will make a difference
The sight of children too young to be working, is sadly too familiar on the streets of Iran. Selling flowers and washing car windscreens at traffic lights are frankly the less disturbing of chores bestowed upon them. (View everyday scenes in Yunes...
Freedom from the Plastic Slipper
The theme of clothing and preoccupation with exterior representation continues to dominate every day Iranian existence. We've seen the sustained crackdown on individual expression for Iranian citizens extending to hairstyle and dyeing, eyebrow...
“Any movement that’s feminine has to be cut” – Ballet in Iran
Earlier this week I was working with the ballet maestro Jean-Pascal Cabardos, who trained Billy for Billy Elliot. Not that Little Black Fish has been dancing en pointe (we were working on texts), though I have indulged in the ballet craze that has...
70,000 strong force to enforce Iran’s dress code
I've been reflecting over the last ten days on FIFA's ban on the participation of Iran's women's football team in the Olympic games qualifiers, for failing to observe international football dress codes --- Iran's Islamic strip included a...
Iranian school girls talk openly
Eight years ago my colleagues and I set out to see what school life was like for 11-13 year olds around the world. I went to Iran, and spent several days with girls at a Tehran school. The building was a large house, once home to a wealthy Iranian...