In the Spotlight : Mansoureh Shojaee
April 16, 2026
Commemorating 4 Years of “Woman, Life, Freedom” in Munich
On the fourth anniversary of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement, From Evin, With Love comes to Munich.
Bringing together handicrafts created by women prisoners in Evin Prison between 2008 and 2025, the exhibition traces a quiet yet powerful thread of resistance, creativity, and solidarity.
Organized in collaboration with the Munich Women’s Academy, the Cultural Department of the City of Munich, and the Iranian Women’s Movement Museum, the exhibition will bring together friends, supporters, artists, journalists, activists, and researchers engaged with Iran’s civil movements from September 18 to 27.
Address: Einstein Kultur, Halle 4, Einsteinstr. 42, 81675 München
Programme
From Evin to Munich: Conversations and Encounters
Friday, 18 September 2026 | 7 pm
Opening: From Evin with Love – Handcrafted Testimonies from Evin Prison in Iran
On the fourth anniversary of the death of Jina Mahsa Amini and the beginning of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, the exhibition From Evin with Love comes to Munich. It presents handcrafted works created between 2010 and 2025 by women political prisoners in Tehran’s Evin Prison. The works offer personal insights into the lives of imprisoned women while also telling a quiet yet powerful story of creativity, resistance, and solidarity.
During the opening event, Mansoureh Shojaee will introduce the origins and concept of the exhibition and the Iranian Women’s Movement Museum and present the exhibited works as testimonies of self-assertion and resistance. Parastou Forouhar will speak about the role of art as a means of survival and resistance in the face of repression and political persecution. The curators will then lead a tour of the exhibition and invite visitors to exchange and discuss.
Admission: 6:30 pm
Venue: Einstein Kultur, Hall 4, Einsteinstr. 42, 81675 Munich
Saturday, 19 September 2026 | 7 pm
From Evin to Munich: Panel on Feminist and Decolonial Culture of Remembrance
Memory is not a neutral process it is made, negotiated, and sometimes denied. Who decides which stories remain part of collective memory and which disappear?
The panel explores how feminist and decolonial perspectives can make gaps in culture of remembrance visible and expand existing narratives, drawing on three concrete examples.
With Parastou Forouhar, we will discuss how art, archival work, and curatorial practice, such as that of the Iranian Women’s Movement Museum, can preserve and make accessible the experiences of Iranian women of persecution, resistance, and solidarity. Modupe Laja brings the perspective of decolonial urban research and Black self-organisation, asking which stories become visible in urban spaces of remembrance – and which remain excluded. With Anke Buettner, the discussion will focus on the #Female Heritage initiative and the work of the Monacensia: How can archives, digital initiatives, and community work make forgotten biographies of women and FLINTA* visible in Munich’s literary memory, and how can the literary canon be critically expanded?
Moderated by Birgit Erbe, the guests will discuss how culture of remembrance can become more diverse, equitable, and resistant.
A public guided tour of the exhibition From Evin with Love will take place at 6 pm before the event.
Venue: Einstein Kultur, Hall 4, Einsteinstr. 42, 81675 Munich
Thursday, 24 September 2026 | 7 pm
Film: My Stolen Planet
What does freedom mean in a country where women have been fighting for their self-determination for decades?
In her documentary My Stolen Planet (Germany 2024, 82 min., German subtitles), director Farahnaz Sharifi tells her own story and explores life in Iran since the 1979 Revolution. Her cinematic diary shows the contrast between freedom in private life and oppression in the public sphere. In response to state-induced loss of memory, the filmmaker collects private 8mm film footage from strangers. Through her encounter with Leyla, a professor living in exile, and in light of her own mother’s Alzheimer’s disease, the film becomes a compelling work against forgetting. The social protests of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement in autumn 2022 mark the turning point of this documentary.
After the screening, activists from the Woman, Life, Freedom movement will be available for a discussion with the audience.
A public guided tour of the exhibition From Evin with Love will take place at 6 pm before the event.
Venue: Einstein Kultur, Hall 4, Einsteinstr. 42, 81675 Munich
Friday, 25 September 2026 | 7 pm
From Evin to Munich: Feminist Roundtable on Activism, Solidarity and Current Hotspots
How can feminist solidarity succeed today? How do alliances between different feminist movements emerge? What does acting in solidarity mean, and how can feminist struggles strengthen one another?
The evening brings experts and activists from a wide range of fields into conversation: from the Iranian freedom movement and Black feminism to trans self-help, care work and museum-based cultures of remembrance. Speakers include Maryam Shirinsokhan, Carolyn Schneider, Nina Reggi, and Gaby Franger, as well as a yet-to-be-named representative from The Sisterhood Munich. Together with moderator Ananya Mehra, they will highlight different perspectives, intersectional challenges, and experiences of solidarity in practice. The event invites participants to discover new approaches for collective action and sustainable alliances.
Following the discussion, there will be an opportunity to join a guided tour of the exhibition. Afterwards, you are invited to chat, network, and wrap up the evening together with music by DJ Funky Francis (WUTKollektiv).
Venue: Einstein Kultur, Hall 4, Einsteinstr. 42, 81675 Munich
Saturday, 26 September 2026 | 7 pm
Book Launch: Mapping Gender Struggles
How can feminist struggles be connected across national borders? What role do gender, solidarity, and resistance play in times of authoritarian and anti-democratic developments?
To mark the publication of the anthology Mapping Gender Struggles, a book launch will be held, followed by a panel discussion titled “The Revolution Is Female?!”. To begin, editors Agnieszka Balcerzak, Ananya Mehra, and Alexandra Rau will briefly introduce the volume and place its key insights into the context of current social developments. The centerpiece of the evening will then be a conversation between Iranian women’s rights activist and museum founder Mansoureh Shojaee and Belarusian philosopher Olga Shparaga. Together with Birgit Erbe, they will discuss feminist struggles in Iran and Belarus, transnational feminism, and the question of what perspectives feminist movements open up for democracy and social change.
Afterwards, there will be a guided tour of the exhibition From Evin with Love and a get-together with snacks and drinks. Both parts of the programme offer space for exchange and networking, accompanied by music from DJ die_ley.
In English. In cooperation with the Institute of Empirical Cultural Studies and European Ethnology at LMU Munich and the Commission for Gender Studies and Queer Anthropology of the DGEKW.
Venue: Einstein Kultur, Hall 4, Einsteinstr. 42, 81675 Munich
Sunday, 27 September 2026 | 6 pm
From Evin to Munich to the World: Finissage & Concert
The finissage looks back on ten days of exhibition and events centred on the stories and struggles of the women of Evin, and asks what remains: which encounters, which insights – and how solidarity with them can be carried forward into something lasting beyond this moment. Rather than simply leaving behind what has been seen and heard, the finissage offers an opportunity to bring these experiences together once more. It marks a transition that is less an ending than a new beginning: from Munich to the world.
To open the evening, the organisers and participating activists invite visitors to take one final, shared look at the exhibition From Evin with Love (6 pm, Hall 3). Afterwards, they will look back on the past days together – an exchange and outlook to which the audience is warmly invited (from 7 pm, Hall 4).
The evening concludes with Arash Sasan’s solo concert From Evin with Love: Sounds of Resistance, Songs of Freedom. Accompanied by the guitar, his compositions blend Persian vocals with jazz, world music, and flamenco. They tell personal stories about contemporary issues – a musical epilogue dedicated to solidarity, hope, and feminist protest.
Venue: Einstein Kultur, Hall 4, Einsteinstr. 42, 81675 Munich
Exhibition
From Evin with Love: Handcrafted Testimonies from Evin Prison in Iran
Venue: Einstein Kultur, Hall 3, Einsteinstr. 42, 81675 Munich
Exhibition period: 19-27 September 2026
Opening hours:
- Thursday-Saturday, 4:30-7 pm
- Sunday, 12-5 pm
- and during the accompanying events
Admission free.
Free public guided tours:
- Saturday, 19 September 2026, 6 pm
- Thursday, 24 September 2026, 6 pm
- Sunday, 27 September 2026, 6 pm
Contact
Frauenakademie München e. V.
Baaderstr. 3
D-80469 München
[email protected]
www.frauenakademie.de
