Tehran's Post Iran-Iraq War

IMAGINING WARFARE, IMAGING WELFARE: TEHRAN’S POST IRAN-IRAQ WAR MURALS AND THEIR LEGACY

Pamela Karimi

ISLAMICIZING THE DISCOURSE OF ART1

In his ﬁ rst post-revolutionary speech, delivered shortly after his arrival in Tehran from Paris in February 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini declared, “We don’t need symbols of the monarchy… we need markers of Islam.”2 In response to this call, “hardliner” intellectuals introduced more “Islamo-centric” ideas about artistic achievements to the general public through a number of publications. In the early 1980s, they founded FaÒlnamah-ya Hunar (The Quarterly Journal of the Arts), one of the few post-revolutionary art journals at that time. Article after article in this journal advised Iranians to reconsider art and architecture. In an early issue, Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi,3 a trained architect, contended that the Shah’s regime had sought to obliterate the essence of the authentic Islamic culture of Iran by building cultural centers and museums according to Western models. He insisted that one felt like a stranger upon arriving at any of these buildings.4 Many of the ideas of the revolutionary period were largely rhetorical and in practice the success of these politically-oriented initiatives varied considerably. Unlike other forms of art, architecture remained intact, even if not all prior developments were considered appropriate in the eyes of the revolutionaries. Granted, a number of monuments glorifying the Pahlavi regime were razed both during and after the Revolution, but a deﬁ nitive approach

1 I am grateful to MaÌmud Shuiaˆybi, Feeroozeh Golmohammadi, Mahdi Qadiyanlu, and Rasul Abidi for kindly dedicating their time to interviews and discussions pertinent to this paper. Professors Afsaneh Najmabadi, Marzolph Ulrich, and Houchang Chehabi provided a number of extremely helpful criticisms and comments. I assume full responsibility for any shortcomings. 2 This quotation is taken from Khomeini’s fi rst post-revolutionary speech in Tehran. See http://www.iranian.com/ Pictory/iri.html+speech+of+khomein; Internet, accessed 08 May 2005. Unless otherwise indicated, all quotations from Persian sources (including those from art and architectural journals, newspapers, interviews, and hearings) are mine. 3 He was the third Prime Ministers of Iran. Ayatollah Khomeini appointed Mehdi Bazargan as provisional Prime Minister in 1979. But he resigned within a year. The second Prime Minister, MuÌammad Rajai, was assassinated in a terrorist bombing in June 1981. 4 Mir-Hossein Mousavi, “Tavazun bakhshidan bih majmuï-ya namawzun [giving harmony to a chaotic building],” FaÒlnamah-ya Hunar. Vol. 1, No. 1 (1361[1982]), 209. See also, idem, “Didgah-i muhandis mir-husayn musavi, nakhust vazir, piramun-i hunar-i muäÒir [the prime minister’s views towards contemporary art].”ibid., Vol.1, No. 2 (1361[1982]), 31-39.

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to “Islamicizing” had yet to be identiﬁ ed.5 Reconﬁ guring the general atmosphere of existing spaces was carried out through numerous strategies, ranging from increased segregation of the sexes and different functions for pre-existing buildings, to installing loudspeakers in populated urban centers for the purpose of broadcasting revolutionary and religious ideas. One of the most far-reaching efforts was the introduction of propaganda murals.

THE PROTAGONIST AND THE CROWD

During the climactic days of the Revolution, a propaganda war was played out on the walls of buildings, where revolutionaries spread their views, and activists, wounded by the bullets of the Shah’s army, wrote their messages with blood. This graffi ti was understandably written at eye-level, where it was easier to read, add to, or deface. After the establishment of the Islamic Republic, governmental organizations sponsored murals proclaiming offi cial messages and placed high up on buildings where they were “fi xed and static both in form and meaning.”6 In art schools, these murals became important subjects of inquiry. Renowned professors such as Asghar Kafshchian Muqaddam (who was infl uenced by Soviet and Mexican mural paintings) helped the development of this type of art. Despite modern means of mass communica- tion, such as radio and television, political posters and murals remained an important medium of propaganda at the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq war in September of 1980.7 These early murals mainly focused on individual heroes of the Revolution or on martyrs from the subsequent war with Iraq. The teeming masses were generally left in the background (Fig. 1). In other forms of propaganda media the masses played a more prominent role, such as the chanting crowds that roared from radios and the images of mass demonstra- tions on TV — what Gustave Le Bon, in his study of “the crowd,” had described as the “magma of human beings gathered from every quarter.” 8 Murals portraying images of the Ayatollahs also included lengthy quotations from their speeches, symbolically assigning to the public space a function that had traditionally belonged to the mosques. This echoed what art critic Zahra Rahnavard (and wife of Prime Minister Mousavi) wrote in the late 1980s: “[Since the Islamic Revolution] Iran as a whole has been turned into a big mosque.”9 The murals that focused on war themes depicted actual battle experiences, going beyond the mere collection of images, to indicate a relation between soldiers and people on the home front as mediated by images.10

5 The most prominent of these monuments was Reza Shah Pahlavi’s memorial. For a detailed account of this monument’s destruction, see Ayatollah Haj Shaykh ∑adiq Khalkhali, “Takhrib-i maqbari-ya riza khan-i mir panj[the destruction of the tomb of Reza Khan mir panj],” Khatirat-i ayatullah khalkhali: Avvalin Ìakim-i sharˆ-i dadgaha-ya inqilab [memoirs of Ayatollah Khalkhali: The ﬁ rst clergy judge of the revolutionary courts] (Tehran: Nashr-i sayah, c. 1383[2004]), 341-351. 6 Talinn Grigor. “(Re)Claiming Space: The Use/Misuse of Propaganda Murals in Republican Tehran.” International Institute for Asian Studies Newsletter. No. 28 (August 2002), 37. 7 Although reduced in number, they have yet to lose their signiﬁ cance. 8 Gustave Le Bon. The Crowd, the Study of the Popular Mind (London: T.F. Unwin, 1903). 9 Zahra Rahnavard, Safar bih diar-i zanan-i but (safarnam-ya hind) [A journey to the land of female idols (a travelogue to India)]. (Tehran: Surush, intisharat-i Òida va sima-ya jumhuri islami iran, 1366 [1987]), 13. 10 Reference to Guy Debord’s formulations in La Societe du Spectacle (Paris, Buchet/Chastel, 1967). For a detailed discussion of war murals, see Christiane J. Gruber’s article in this volume.

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1. Mural depicting Ayatollahs Khomeini, untitled, Tehran, man†aqih (district) 7, ca. late 1980s. (Photograph by author, 2000).

SHIFTING SUBJECTS

Postwar murals manifested themselves in two distinct groups. The fi rst group included the government’s attempts to explain the cost and consequences of the Iran-Iraq war to its citizens. The second group adopted non-political themes, offering a therapeutic means of promoting public well-being. The former overtly glorifi ed the veterans of war and commemorated the martyrs. An image from Firdawsi Avenue, for example, shows a war veteran with an amputated leg along with a caption that reads: “The value of you, the veteran, is more than that of the martyrs.”11 This type of postwar mural had a lot in common with wartime murals; it signifi ed deeper socio-political continuities between the war years and the postwar period. In this sense, wartime propaganda, which focused on encouraging youth to go to war and consent to martyrdom, became a model for the peacetime propaganda, which recycled the same themes, but this time only for remembering the war. While most murals during the war and its immediate aftermath served the propaganda aims of the regime, Feeroozeh Golmohammadi’s wall paintings took a new direction.

11 Quoted in Grigor, Ibid.

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Shortly after the Iran-Iraq war, Golmohammadi, a close relative of former Prime Minister Mousavi, was approached by representatives from several district municipalities in Tehran and asked to introduce ideas for new murals to be displayed in main urban areas. Not only did her work get the green light, but she also received many positive reviews.12 Unlike propaganda murals that embraced realistic subjects with dull colors, Golmohammadi’s murals featured abstract themes that bordered on the mystical, rendered in dazzling pastel colors. Her work also added a feminine dimension to a city watched over by the towering images of male ﬁ gures. A look at Golmohammadi’s paintings show the extent to which she refused to follow the path set by early revolutionary artists. KaÂim Chalipa (among the most prominent of these earlier artists) placed art into two categories, “liberating and enslaving.” According to Chalipa, while the former aimed at “liberating humanity in all material and spiritual dimensions,” the latter “had its roots in imperialism and Zionism.”13 In contrast, although motivated by her religious beliefs and supported by the regime, Golmohammadi distanced herself from this simplistic dichotomy. In an autobiographical introduction to her book, Zan, ab, ayinah (woman, water, mirror), she asserts:

Years ago, as I was reading voluminously in search of new themes to inspire me …, I found myself attracted, on the one hand, by such subjects as water, rosary beads, simurgh [a mythical thunderbird], mirror and alchemy, and, on the other hand, by such persons as …[the] Virgin Mary and Fatimah-e Zahra. These various subjects were ﬁ nally crystallized into the three elements of woman, water, and mirror.14

Golmohammadi was most attracted to the writings of the medieval mystical fi gures Rumi and Farid al-Din Attar Nayshaburi (known as Attar).15 She was also infl uenced by her contemporary Seyyed Hossein Nasr, one of the world’s leading experts on conceptions of Islamic spirituality,16 who also served as the cultural advisor of Farah Pahlavi, the former Empress of Iran. Although often underestimated, the infl uence Nasr’s re-invention of mysticism has had on modern Iranian artists is immense. Nader Ardalan and Laleh Bakhtiar’s monumental book, The Sense of Unity: The Sufi Tradition in Persian Archi- tecture, took its spiritual approach to Islamic architecture from Nasr’s ideas. Although

12 Feeroozeh Golmohammadi, interview by author, tape recording, Tehran, Iran. 10 April 2007. 13 Quoted in Mostafa Goodarzi, ed., A Decade with Painters of the Islamic Revolution (1979-1989), (Tehran: The Art Center of the Islamic Propagation Organization, 1989), 15. (The text appears in both Persian and English. Quotations are borrowed from the original English text). For more information on KaÂim Chalipa, as well as other early revolutionary artists, see Gruber’s article in this volume. 14 Golmohammadi, “Introduction,” Zan, ab, ayinah [woman, water, mirror] (Tehran: Mo¨assasa-ya farhangi chap va nashr-i naÂar, 1379 [2000]), n.p. (The text appears in both Persian and English. This quotation is taken from the original English text). 15 Attar’s views inspired Rumi who mentioned him with the highest esteem in his poetry. 16 Spirituality has long been taken up by modernists (including women) in the Middle East as an alternative to more dogmatic approaches to Islam, such as forced veiling. For example, in 1928, Nazira Zayn al-Din, a Deruze woman from Beirut, called for a spiritual understanding of Islam. In her book, Unveiling and Veiling (1928), she argued that women’s veiling violated the spiritual essence of Islam, which favored equality between men and women. In this sense, spirituality (if not Suﬁ sm) became a means of justifying reform within the framework of traditional Islamic norms. See Elizabeth Thompson, Colonial Citizens: Republican Rights, Paternal Privilege, and Gender in French Syria and Lebanon (New York: Columbia University Press: 2000), 127-128.

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early revolutionaries criticized Nasr for his service to the Royal family,17 and condemned some variants (if not all) of spirituality (especially Sufi sm or taÒawwuf), they gradually brought mysticism (ïrfan), including the views of Nasr himself, into their discourse.18 It was in the post-Iran-Iraq war context and the subsequent post-Khomeini era that mysticism increasingly crept into the public realm. Mysticism even came to defi ne the cult surrounding the memory of Khomeini; indeed in his later years he wrote several mystical ghazals, or love poems, which became known to the public posthumously. 19 In this sense, the religious beliefs that Khomeini used for political ends during his lifetime took on a more mystical aura after his death. The revolutionary elite took this mysticism and used it for their own purposes, regardless of its historical connotations. In this sense, Golmohammadi’s murals are more complex than they seem to be at fi rst, including more than a disregard for political and martyrdom themes. Her art turned the tropes of political propaganda into mystic icons: the martyr became a mystical bird. Where the eye sees a collection of birds fl ying in spiral unison towards the sun, together with calligraphic phrases from mystical poems, the mind still understands their connection to a spiritually oriented ideology adopted by the regime in the post-war period (Fig. 2). Whether intended or not, Golmohammadi’s style represent a progression from wartime murals. But regardless of their multiple meanings and asso- ciations, Golmohammadi’s politically sanctioned paintings opened the door to concepts and styles that have since been taken up by other artists. Today the gloomy cityscape of Tehran is not only dominated by political murals, but also animated by vibrant abstract wall paintings. The artistic — as opposed to blatantly or indirectly propagandist — use of murals has become a fairly common technique now. As early as the1980s, several small district headquarters, together with such organizations as bunyad-i shahid (The Martyrs Foundation), sponsored mural paintings. Since 2001, however, government-run sazman-i ziba-sazi shahr-i Tehran (the Organization for Beautifi cation of the City of Tehran), hereafter “the Sazman,” has attempted to become the sole offi cial sponsor of murals. The Sazman is part of Tehran’s municipality and has

17 Michael. J. Fischer, Iran: From Religious Dispute to Revolution (Cambridge, MA, and London: Harvard University Press, 1980), 142-143. 18 Among Muslims, many sects and movements have exhibited Gnostic features. The mystical philosophy taught in Shiite Islam under the title of ïrfan (spiritual knowledge) or Ìikmat (wisdom) is an intellectual Gnostic tradition. See Moojan Momen, The Phenomenon of Religion: A Thematic Approach (Oxford: Oneworld, 1999), 134; Idem, An Introduction to Shiïsm: The History and Doctrine of Twelver Shiïsm (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1985), 208-219. It is important to note that ïrfan is not equal to Sufi sm. The rejection of Sufi sm by the Shiïte hierarchy was a political phenomenon of the late ∑afavid era when the ülamaˆ (Shiïte clerics) reacted against royal patronage of Sufi s. The ülamaˆ thus differentiated between what they approved and recognized as mysticism (ïrfan), and Sufi sm (taÒawwuf), which they rejected. The rejection of Sufi sm in contemporary Iran has its roots in this long tradition. See Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Sufi Essays (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1972), 118, referred to in Fischer, ibid., 143. 19 These poems were later collected and published in a book entitled: Bada-ye ïshq: ashär-i ärfani-ya haÂrat-i imam Khomeini [Wine of Love: Mystical Poems by His Eminence Imam Khomeini]. See, Ruhollah Khomeini, ibid (Tehran: Muässasa-ya tanÂim va nashr-i asar-i imam Khomeini, 1368[1989]). For English translations of some of Khomeini’s poems, see: Tr. William Hanaway, “Five Mystical Ghazals by the Ayatollah Khomeini,” Iranian Studies. Vol. 30, No. 3-4 (1997), 273-276.

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2. Mural by Firouzeh Golmohammadi, untitled, Vali-¨aÒr Rotary, south east corner, Tehran, district 6, ca. 1993. (Photograph by author, 2000).

been active in areas of public art, ranging from sculpture and landscape planning to mural art.20 Since the establishment of this organization, the capital has begun to see new forms of public art, because the director of the Sazman’s mural section, MaÌmud Shuiâybi (himself an artist), is interested in phasing out propaganda murals and is not so concerned with protecting existing ones. Starting in 2004, the Sazman sent out several calls for mural competitions through major art magazines. These competitions were open to all, and entries from younger art students were particularly welcomed. Recognizing the Sazman’s new direction, the artist Rasul Abidi presented a martyrdom mural that took a lighter approach to the theme. His work was accepted to be placed over pre-existing murals along Tehran’s buzurgrah-i shahid-i gumnam (Unknown Soldier Freeway). Abidi does not reject the offi cial doctrine of the Islamic state, but like Golmohammadi his work is infl uenced by the medieval Iranian mystic poet Attar, particularly his concept of haft shahr-i ïshq or “seven cities of love.”21 The idea of seven cities of love is a metaphorical reference to seven steps towards the development of human corporeality.

20 For more information regarding the responsibilities of the Sazman, see Hamid Reza Kheyrab, “Sakhtiman-i markazi sazman ziba-sazi shahr-i Tehran [an alternative design for the organization for beauti- ﬁ cation of the city of Tehran]” (Master’s Thesis, Shahid Bihishti University, Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tehran, Iran, [1378]1999), 55. 21 These seven tracks are mentioned in Attar’s Man†iq al-†ayr [Conference of the Birds]. Led by the hoopoe, the birds of the world set forth in search of their king or simurgh. This quest takes the birds to seven valleys, through which so many difﬁ culties assail them.

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Martyrdom, according to Abidi, can be placed at the highest level of this development. Abidi’s work was placed on seven consecutive walls along the freeway. He condemned the previous murals that his work replaced as “poorly representing the martyrs and disrespecting their mission.“22 He insisted instead on creating an abstract and mystical ambiance. Butterfl ies and kafiyyas (black-and-white Palestinian-style scarves used widely by the Iranian basidjis, or volunteer soldiers, during the war with Iraq) are juxtaposed with bright colors and abstract forms, which come together in his commemoration of the soldier (Fig. 3). Although both Golmohammadi and Abidi took their cues from mysticism, their works differ in many ways. For one, Abidi uses a more abstract language. His calligraphic phrases have no literal meaning; they are just a bunch of scattered words dispersed through- out the composition, reminiscent of faded calligraphic phrases (and at times also fl oral forms) in the margins of Old Persian manuscript paintings. In this sense, the mural embraces a long tradition of illustration, while at the same time indicating the absence of the protagonist (e.g., the leader, the martyr, the veteran of war, or other revolutionary fi gures).

3. Mural by Rasoul Abedi, ¨Uruj [Ascend], Unknown Soldier Freeway, Tehran, district 6, 2004. (Photograph by author, 2006).

22 Rasul Abidi, interview by author, tape recording, Tehran, Iran. 02 April 2007.

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PICTURING HETEROTOPIAS

The mural artist Mahdi Qadiyanlu (a 26-year-old graduate of the School of Fine Arts at Tehran University) borrows some of these ideas and takes them even further. Qadiyanlu, who grew up on a farm in the suburbs of Tehran takes his cue from the natural settings of his youth, but by his own accounts he is also infl uenced by the paintings of David Hockney. Qadiyanlu ’s murals thus indirectly evoke Western taste, conceptually going beyond Iran’s urban regulations, which seek to promote Islamic values through public space.23 These murals also disregard the declaration of the current mayor of Tehran, Muhsin Qalibaf, an art lover who wants to turn the capital into “an open art gallery for the display of Iranian traditional culture.”24 What’s more, the production of Qadiyanlu’s costly murals would be impossible without the involvement of Western companies: the longer-lasting paints used in these murals are often purchased from automobile companies such as BMW. Such reliance on the West for artistic production is somewhat new. In the post- revolutionary period, perfection in an artistic production was often measured by how well the artwork marked Iran’s independence from the ideological, fi scal, and technical sup- port of more technologically advanced countries. The economic forces behind most artistic and architectural productions were almost as important as aesthetic values.25 But as T.J. Clark points out in a different context, “the economic realm…is in itself a realm of representations.”26 It is a realm that manipulates cultural products, and therefore infl u- ences their appearances. In this respect, art in the Islamic Republic cannot be judged by aesthetic standards alone. Many claim that the ongoing decline in the quality of main- stream artistic and architectural projects in Iran is a refl ection of the country’s economic crisis. With only a few exceptions, most buildings and public artworks seem rushed and shoddy. Interestingly, the Islamic Republic’s political elite has in the past viewed the decline in the quality of art, ranging from aesthetic features to technical issues, not as a scandal but as a sign of Iranian independence. Whether one prefers to call this phenomenon a de-aesthetization process or a consequence of economic restrictions, the Iranian regime has construed it positively. Recent muralists such as Qadiyanlu have tried to stay away from this ideological limitation by seeking fi nancial resources for better materials, and at times even ideas.

23 Jahangir Mansoor, ed., Qavanin va muqarrarat-i marbu† bih shahr va shahrdari [rules and regulations related to cities and municipalities] (Tehran: Nashr-i didar, 1386 [2007]), 568. 24 Guruh-i Tusäy-i Shahri [the committee for urban development], “Tehran bayad namayishgah-i farhang-i irani bashad [Tehran must become a gallery for the display of the Iranian culture],” Jahan-i IqtiÒad [the world of economy]. Vol. 15, No. 3582 (Thursday, 21 December 2006), 6. The quotation is derived from the mayor’s speech at the closing ceremony of duvvumin fi stival-i film-i shahr [the second fi lm festival of the city of Tehran]. 25 The press coverage of the congregation center for the 1997 summit of Islamic nations in Tehran bears witness to this phenomenon: The bold headlines, “Mumkin sakhtan-i namumkin [making the impossible possible],” and “Pafi shari bar khud ittika’i [the emphasis on self-reliance],” stand out on pages of an article dedicated to the building in a 1997 issue of Abadi (one of the most popular architectural journals at the time). See “Mururi bar taÌaqquq-i yik †arÌ [a look at the materialization of an idea],” Abadi. Vol. 7, No. 26 (1376 [1997]), 92-95. 26 T.J Clark. The Painting of Modern Life: Paris in the Art of Manet and his Followers (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1999), 6.

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But there is much more than this that is unique in the content of Qadiyanlu’s work. Not only does he shun the style of propaganda art, he also embarks on new themes that engage the audience in creative ways. Qadiyanlu’s murals call to mind a quiet life reminiscent of the countryside, and they also introduce surreal concepts: suspended spaces and unfi nished ideas create a distinctive attraction in his works. Qadiyanlu’s intention is to create a pleasant atmosphere while allowing “the viewers’ imagination to fl y.” He asserts, “I want to attract the attention of the passersby, but not in a way that commercial advertisements would do. I want my audience to think.”27 At the same time that such murals become depoliticized, they become more explicitly communitarian. Those viewing them are no longer passive onlookers but participants. Although Iranian propaganda murals have become a subject of Western academic inquiry, for most Iranians these murals have become “invisible backgrounds.”28 It is no wonder that those who notice them are largely foreigners visiting Iran for the fi rst time. Instead of the usual propagandistic fare that Iranians have for the most part learned to ignore, Qadiyanlu’s realistic scenes demand greater attention. Qadiyanlu’s trompe l’oeil style makes people second-guess what they have seen. Something as commonplace as a fi gure in a window makes people stop and examine more closely what they have just seen. Even Qadiyanlu’s more fanciful murals have an element of realism that encourages critical refl ection. His creativity could be said to take its cue from Marcel Duchamp’s assertion: “The creative act is not performed by the artist alone; the spectator brings the work in contact with the external world by deciphering and interpreting its inner qualifi cations and thus adds his contribution to the creative act.”29 While Golmohammadi and Abidi used abstraction to undermine the realism of propaganda murals, Qadiyanlu uses themes and objects from everyday life — the sky, electric poles, pedestrian bridges, the sea, a lone gardener watering a lawn. The artist transcends the quotidian by creating the “heterotopia” of the everyday30; but, in doing so, he disrupts the commonplace of the everyday: mundane objects become incongruous and mysterious — pedestrian bridges lead to nowhere and the sea is trapped in a room that is askew (Figs 4-9). There

27 Qadiyanlu. Ibid. 28 I am indebted to Afsaneh Najmabadie for bringing this phenomenon to my attention. Traditionally, background has played a major role in both classical and modern Persian art. Whether in an illuminated miniature from a Timurid album, a ∑afavid wall painting, or the twentieth century traditional-modernist pictorial art of the Saqqa-khanih School, the foreground characters are dissolved into the convoluted backdrops, where laws of perspective hardly apply and all objects, regardless of their proximity to the fore, loom close to the observer. This legacy of representation continues to be the hallmark of numerous modern Iranian artists (including Golmohammadi); while adopting modern Western styles, these artists do not shy away from Iran’s historic skills of illustration. In the 1960s and 1970s the Saqqa-khanih artists (such as Masoud Arabshahi, Mansour Ghandriz, and Hossein Zendehrudi) turned the “background,” or what looked like the backdrop of classical Persian illustrations, into the main subject matter of their art. For further information on the Saqqa-khanih School, see Hamid Keshmirshekan, “Neo-traditionalism and Modern Iranian Painting: The Saqqa-khanih School in the 1960s,” Iranian Studies journal. Vol. 38, No. 4 (December 2005), 607-630. 29 Marcel Duchamp, “The Creative Act,” Artnews. No. 56 (June-August 1957), 29. 30 In his seminal work, “Of Other Spaces” Foucault opposes utopias or what he deems “sites with no real place [lieu].” Instead he talks about utopias that do exist. He calls them “heterotopias” or places that are “enacted utopias.” See Michel Foucault. “Of Other Spaces,” Diacritics. No.16 (Spring 1986), 22-27.

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is a surrealistic aspect to the predominantly realistic subject matter, where state ideology and politics fi nd no space. Even while dealing with more politically oriented assign- ments, the artist continues to depoliticize the subject. In 2005, Qadiyanlu was commissioned to portray the two leaders of the Islamic Republic on the side of a shopping center located at the airport exit. Most foreign visitors to Tehran pass the building on their way to the city.31 The artist gave a very soft and pleasant look to both Ayatollah Khomeini and Khameneie. The fi gures are set against a light beige background with colorful butterfl ies in fl ight. This background is peculiar; it helps highlight the leaders and yet signifi es another interesting feature of Qadiyanlu’s art. There seems to be a disharmony between the butterfl ies, which bring to mind fantasy and fairy tales, and the two leaders of the revolution, the pinnacles of state power. In this sense, the background is depoliticized, especially when compared to earlier backgrounds that often featured the “magma” of the revolutionary crowd. The use of light colors and the smiling faces of the leaders recall Golmohammadi’s joyful style. The artist also believed that by softening skin tones, widening the space between eyes and eyebrows, depicting Khamenei with a lowered gaze and pleasant facial expression, he would give the leaders a kinder and gentler look. Finally, since the mural is located on the side of one of the earliest post- revolutionary shopping malls, it symbolically (if not, perhaps, deliberately) commodifi es the leaders for consumption by the Iranian public (Fig. 10). Whatever his intentions may be, Qadiyanlu’s art tends to cheer up the polluted capital, a city with trash-strewn jubs (open drainage ditches along most streets) referred to as “big garbage cans” by the popular newspaper, Hamshahri (Citizens).32 His murals have thus played an important role in urban renewal, as seen in a work done for the historic Marvi Passageway (Fig. 11). In conjunction with efforts to clean up this area, where drug users often congregated, Qadiyanlu’s mural served to brighten the environment and to attract tourists. While most propaganda murals have been displayed on governmental institutions, non-political murals are often depicted on the side of residential apartment buildings. Governmental offi cials generally do not accept new artistic approaches, or what they deem “non-serious” art, for the buildings they inhabit.33 For this type of art, artists have to seek the permission of the (residential) building’s owner before beginning the work. According to Qadiyanlu, all of his proposals were approved on the condition that the mural did not include propaganda. Negative views toward propaganda murals are often expressed in quite visible ways. Shuiâybi speaks of the vandalism that has been occurring during Chaharshanbihsuri, a

31 Since his ﬁ rst submission, Qadiyanlu has been constantly approached by the Sazman to paint more murals. 32 “Majlis taÒvib kard: tawqif zubalih sazha [the parliament has passed a bill to abolish those who dispose trash in the city],” Hamshahri. Vol. 9, No, 3272 (Saturday, 8 May 2004), 20. It is worth mentioning that since the revolution, people have continued to contest public space by ignoring it. It is no coincidence that side by side the propaganda murals, pollution remains the hallmark of the post-revolutionary city. It is only in the past couple of years that those in charge have taken note of this phenomenon. Page after page in popular newspapers encourages people to recycle trash, avoid leaving garbage out during unscheduled pick-up hours, and to take care of their public surroundings. 33 Qadiyanlu. Ibid.

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4-5. Mural by Mehdi Ghadiyanloo; top, before; bottom, after: ™aravat [Freshness], Vanak Rotary, Tehran, district 6, 2007. (Photographs courtesy of the Organization for Beautiﬁ cation of the City of Tehran).

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6. Mural by Mehdi Ghadiyanloo, Parvaz [Escape], Tehran, district 21, 2006. (Photograph courtesy of the Organization for Beautiﬁ cation of the City of Tehran)

7. Mural by Mehdi Ghadiyanloo, Naqsh-i asiman [The Image of the Sky], Tehran, district 10, 2007. (Photograph courtesy of the Organization for Beautiﬁ cation of the City of Tehran)

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8. Mural by Mehdi Ghadiyanloo, Miˆmari asiman [The Architecture of the Sky], Tehran, district 22, 2006. (Photograph courtesy of the Organization for Beautiﬁ cation of the City of Tehran)

9. Mural by Mehdi Ghadiyanloo, Tihran [Tehran], Tehran, district 10, 2006. (Photograph courtesy of the Organization for Beautiﬁ cation of the City of Tehran)

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10. Mural by Mehdi Ghadiyanloo. Imam va rahbari [Imam and the Supreme Leader], Tehran, district 5, Mihrabad Airport Exit, 2005. (Photograph courtesy of the Organization for Beautiﬁ cation of the City of Tehran)

11. Mural by Mehdi Ghadiyanloo, Guzar-i kha†irah, kuchih marvi [Path of Memory, Marvi Alley], Marvi Quarter, Tehran, district 12, 2006. (Photograph courtesy of the Organization for Beautiﬁ cation of the City of Tehran)

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celebration rooted in Iranians’ pre-Islamic past. In recent years these celebrations have turned into street protests during which the youth express anti-regime sentiments. During Chaharshanbihsuri, ﬁ reworks or explosive materials have been known to deface propaganda murals. Martyrdom murals have also been subject to disapproval. Hamshahri reports that out of 33,000 Tehrani martyrs, only 140 are portrayed.34 Families of those martyrs who have not been chosen for depiction are critical of the responsible organizations, and even those families whose lost ones have been honored complain about poor representation.35 A recent survey shows that only ﬁ ve percent of a group of men and women, between the ages 15-60, approve of propaganda of any kind. Fifty three percent of those surveyed believe that murals should only serve to beautify the city. Others note the importance of both approaches, as well as of commercial advertisements.36

THE HARDLINER RETURN

There is no fi xed, overarching ideology when it comes to emphasizing the values of the Islamic Republic through public art. But numerous non-governmental and private organizations have long contributed to defi ning the overall make-up of the capital’s “Islamicization.” When the fi rst post-revolutionary advertisement billboards appeared in Tehran, the hardliners’ reaction was unsympathetic. One criticism, scrawled next to a commercial advertisement billboard signed “the Hezbollah of Tehran,” stated: “We don’t want a European City.”37 In recent years, the hardliners have taken steps to address similar concerns. During his tenure as the mayor of Tehran, Mahmoud Ahmadinijad took various initiatives to Islamicize the capital. In 2003, in commemoration of Imam Ali’s martyrdom, black cloths were draped over female actresses on movie billboards (Fig. 12).38 In 2004, the City Council put up posters that anticipated the arrival of the twelfth Shiite Imam. However, according to the online newsletter Tehranavenue, “Ahmadinijad did not think twice… about [permitting] billboards to adorn the city, inviting citizens to buy Omega watches, LG sound systems, …and CK jewelry,” for which a former liberal mayor, GhulamÌusayn Karbaschi, had been criticized. Alongside signs promoting capitalist consumption were seen moral sayings like a Shiite Imam’s admonition: “Be honest.”39

34 Leila Mousavizadeh, “TaÒavir ziba ru-ya divarha-ya shahr [beautiful images on the walls of the city],” Hamshahri. Vol. 11, No. 3520 (Saturday, 9 October 2004), 22. 35 MaÌmud Shuiâybi, interview by author, tape recording, Tehran, Iran. 10 May 2007. 36 Setareh Nowrooni, “Taˆsir ijtimaî naqqashiha-ya divari dar faÂay-i shahri az didgah-i girafi k-i muÌi†i [the impact of murals on urban spaces: An analysis from the point of view of environmental graphic design]” (Master’s Thesis, Art University, Tehran, Iran, 1380 [2001]), 589. 37 For both the photograph of this written criticism and related discussions, see Sima Kuban, “Îiyfi pul, Ìiyfi chishm [wasting money, tiring the eyes],” Kitab-i Tehran [book of Tehran], Vol. 2 (Tehran: Intisharat-i rushangaran, 1371[1992]), 181-192. Quotation appears on page182. 38 See Bad Jens: Iranian Feminist Newsletter, [article online]; available from http://www.badjens. com/sixthedition/sixthindex.htm; Internet, accessed 30 December 2003. 39 Crossroad, “Avenues and Alleys of Tehran in the Past Year,” [article online]; available from http://tehranavenue.com/article.php?id=346; Internet, accessed 20 April 2007.

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12. In 2003 commemoration of Imam Ali’s martyrdom, black cloths hung over women actresses on movie billboards, Saqi, north Tehran. © Bad Jens: Iranian Feminist Newsletter. www.badjense.com.

Despite Ahmadinijad’s acceptance of Western advertising, his presidency has seen a revival of the trend towards Islamicization, although there are disagreements about how it should be put into practice. For example, verses from the Quran have been inscribed on gigantic columns supporting highways, which some have viewed as outrageous (Fig. 13). Privately funded individuals carry out such works. The Sazman, which objects to words from the Quran in public places as sacrilege, has not yet been able to remove the verses. By organizing several forums on the topic of public art, the Sazman hopes to emphasize that religious belief must be expressed in more abstract ways. Shuiˆaybi says: “We cannot put Qur¨anic verses on the walls in such a manner; this is disrespectful!”40 He and many other specialists, including the urban planner Farzan Kirmani Nijad, insist that Tehran could become the city of artistic murals, a tourist attraction.41 But there are still uncertain- ties concerning what makes a city beautiful or how one can express religion in aesthetic terms.42 The ambiguity of the approach of the supreme leader (Ayatollah Khamenei) to

40 Shuiâybi. Ibid. 41 “Naqqashi divari dar nuq†i-ya Òifr [wall paintings at the zero stage],” [article online]; available from the offi cial website of The Cultural Heritage News Agency. See “http://www.uan.ir/news/print/?id=2364; Internet, accessed 10 December 2006. 42 For further information regarding the concept of “beautifi cation” as it relates to improving the city of Tehran, see Gruber’s article in this volume.

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aesthetics is refl ected in his quotation that appears on a Sazman-sponsored billboard: “Beautifying must be part of our main criteria.” (Fig. 14) However one interprets this concept of “beautifying,” it is clear that the new Iranian murals have made possible new expressions of public taste in an urban environment, a realm previously claimed only by the government. Murals no longer refl ect the offi cially sanctioned ideologies of the regime. Instead, they allow self-affi rming individuals, both men and women, to express their views by crafting new forms of public art that could be seen as allowing the possibility to rethink civic life in contemporary Iranian cities.

13. Mural depicting didactic verses from the Quran both in original Arabic and Persian, untitled, MullaÒadra Avenue, central Tehran, ca. 2006. (Photograph by author, 2007)

14. Billboard depicting Ayatollah Khamenei along with his saying: “Beautifying must be part of our main criteria,” Mo†ahhari Avenue, central Tehran, ca. 2006. (Photograph by author, 2007)

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