The dry rasp of the empty mailbox being opened and closed evokes two memories in me. The sound of Kalashnikov bolts being pulled as soldiers opened fire on demonstrators. The sound of the small window in the steel door of Cell 25 in Cell Block 209, Evin Prison, when the guard would peek in to say that someone was using the toilet. Meaning that the prisoner had to go on writhing like a snake from the pressure of her bladder.
I received the cardboard tape recorder, handicraft by Nazanin Deyhami, inmate in Evin Prison’s women’s block, two weeks after her death. At the time of her passing, Nazanin was only twenty-nine years old. The cause of her death in November 2017 was an asthma attack brought on by heavy pollution in Tehran.
sitting in Evin Prison in Iran is this year’s Andrei Sakharov prize recipient – Narges Mohammadi. Mohammadi was awarded the prize “for her leadership in campaigning for peace, justice and the abolition of the death penalty, as well as her unwavering efforts to promote the human rights and freedoms of the Iranian people, despite persecution that has forced her to suspend her scientific pursuits and endure lengthy incarceration.”
Narges is currently serving a 16 year sentence. She is an Iranian physicist, engineer and human rights defender.
In light of International Women's Day, the exhibition "From Evin, With Love" will open on March 9, 2018 in The Hague, Netherlands, presenting the handicrafts of Imprisoned Iranian women activists. The exhibition will run through April 6, 2018 and will feature a number of prominent Iranian and foreign speakers as well as a performance by Nasrin Hobby & Ensemble.
The exhibition presents the handicrafts of imprisoned Iranian women activists from the Evin prison in Tehran.
You are invited to attend the opening of the exhibition ‘From Evin, With Love’ on Friday, 9 March in the Humanity House. The exhibition presents the handicrafts of imprisoned Iranian women activists from the Evin prison in Tehran.
From Evin, With Love presents the handicrafts of imprisoned Iranian women activists from the Evin prison. These women are former human rights activists, lawyers, cartoonists, students, local politicians, but also regular citizens and mothers fighting for their rights. For this reason they have been imprisoned by the Iranian authorities. In the exhibition you see all kinds of random objects such as dolls, birds, sequined purses, patchwork mats and embroidered tablecloths. The women made these works during their imprisonment, expressing their clear desire for freedom.
Halleh Ghorashi - This exhibition is the first stage of the Iranian women’s museum project, which showcases handicrafts made by women inmates (prisoners of conscience) in Evin Prison. The stories and imaginaries connected to these handicrafts make them much more than just objects.
Marga Martens – One might wonder what are pure and goodly deeds and what is commendable and seemly conduct? Sacrificing your freedom for spiritual concepts seems to me a pure and goodly deed.
