As a global organization dedicated to defending art and artists, AICA believes that freedom of expression is a fundamental human right. The Committee on Censorship and Freedom of Expression would, therefore, like to share the following statement in support of protests by art students in Iran, which was published recently online (https://statementiranianartists.wordpress.com) and signed by a long list of Iranian artists, scholars, critics, art historians and curators. AICA International adds its voice to theirs in solidarity. The persecution, arbitrary punishment and incarceration of people for having a different opinion should cease immediately and actions be taken to restore the human rights of Iranian citizens.
Statement by Iranian Artists, Scholars, Critics, Art Historians, and Curators in Support of Art Students’ Protests in the Country
For more than four weeks, the Iranian art students’ support for the “Woman, Life, Liberty” movement has been on full display on university campuses across the country. They have exerted their right to civil disobedience, and organized strikes, sit-ins, vigils, and other acts of collective remembrance to protest against wide-ranging human rights violations in Iran.
In their aspirations, the Iranian art students are echoing the demands of Iranian society in its entirety.
These protests, however, are continuing in a climate where the Ministry of Higher Education, in well-documented and systemic collusion with the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Intelligence Services are cracking down on students through arbitrary arrests, detentions, expulsions, confiscation of student identification cards, class cancellations, and even total closure of campuses.
Such atrocities are often conducted by campus security forces and some of their regime-backed enablers among administrators and professors.
Despite the threats and violence, students are insisting on their rights to assemble and to express themselves freely and through collective statements, they have demanded change: “We will reclaim our right to decide for ourselves, and we will fight tyrants and reactionaries.”
Hereby, we, a group of Iranian artists, scholars, critics, art historians, and curators, declare our solidarity with Iranian art students in their struggle for equality, life, and freedom. With all of our cultural and social power, we stand firmly with them.
We condemn, in the strongest terms, all forms of arrest, intimidation, and suppression by the regime, and we demand the immediate and unconditional release of all students who have been detained.
We believe that the Ministry of Education and its co-conspirator institutions are totally incapable of making any fair decisions regarding the fate of the students. The ominous shadow of the Iranian regime’s security forces and their constant threats must be eradicated completely from the university campuses and all aspects of students’ lives.
Art students in Iran are now leading the way to re-imagine Iranian art universities.
In solidarity,
Iranian artists, scholars, critics, art historians, and curators.
October 2022