To coincide with Purim and International Women’s Month, a new exhibit has been opened at the Museum for Islamic Art in Jerusalem: Five – Women, Life Freedom. According to the museum, the exhibition examines the Iranian protests that began in September 2022 over the killing of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian Mahsa Amini by the Islamic Republic’s notorious morality police.
The exhibit highlights, through art, the female-led movement against the Islamic Republic, and tells the story of 5 female protesters who have bravely stood up to the regime at the cost of their freedom and physical safety. Their stories have been retold through art pieces by contemporary Iranian artists.
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Women, Life, Freedom Exhibit at the Museum of Islamic Art in Jerusalem
(Photo: Michael Stevens)
Among the women featured are Mahsa Amini and Vida Movahed, a 32-year-old woman that removed the white hijab she had been wearing, tied it to a stick, and waved it as a symbol protesting the mandatory hijab law in the heart of Tehran. Vida was promptly arrested, and social media began overflowing with different artistic expressions displaying the waving hijab.
Hooman Khalili, an Iranian-American and the producer of the exhibit, told Ynet that “unveiling this mural during the season of Purim during International women's month was imperative. I want to keep reminding the world of the strength and courage of the Iranian women who never stop fighting for what is right and just.”
Coming off the success of the first mural Khalili produced in Talpiot, and the second mural in Nazareth, Khalili’s third mural is the centerpiece of the new exhibition at the Museum of Islamic Art. The mural features Ghazal Ranjkesh, a freedom-fighting woman whose right eye was shot out by the Islamic Regime.
Throughout March, the Museum for Islamic Art will also hold a series of events pertaining to Iran, a country with a rich and ancient history, from the Persian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BCE until modern-day Iran and the anti-government protests. The exhibit, curated by Orly Cohen, opened on March 2 and will continue through April 1, 2023.