Hypebeast : Artists and Activists Unveil ‘Eyes on Iran’ Installation on New York’s Roosevelt Island (by Shawn Ghassemitari)

The opening of the installation featured talks by Shirin Neshat, Hank Willis Thomas and Hilary Clinton, along with a performance by Jon Batiste.

Arts non-profit Woman Life Freedom have unveiled a new installation on New York’s Roosevelt Island to raise awareness to the humanitarian crisis happening in Iran.

Made in collaboration with French artist JR and For Freedoms, a civil rights platform founded by Hank Willis Thomas and Eric Gottesman, Iranian artists Aphrodite Deìsireìe Navab, Icy and Sot, Shirin Neshat, Sepideh Mehraban, and Sheida Soleimani present a series of large-scale artworks entitled Eyes on Iran.

Amongst the new work, the project features a monumental vinyl mural by Neshat depicting Farsi script wrapped around an eye that directly points at the United Nations. Having recently held a Special Session to discuss the “deteriorating human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran”, the installation coincides with the U.N.’s ongoing 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.

The multi-day event commenced today and featured talks by the aforementioned Iranian artists, along with former U.S. presidential candidate Hilary Rodham Clinton and a performance by Grammy-winning artist, Jon Batiste, who played a rendition of “Baraye” — a popular protest song by Iranian singer Shervin Hajipour, who was subsequently arrested by Iranian officials back in September and released on bail in October.

It’s been nearly three months now that Iranians have taken to the streets to protest the death of Jîna ‘Mahsa’ Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman who was killed at the hands of the country’s morality police. Since then, reports inside the nation and across the global diaspora have noted of the regime cutting off internet communication across the country and the death of at least 434 men, women and children, along with the arrest and torture of thousands of others who have come in support of the protestors.

In lieu of Miami Art Week, For Freedom will continue to raise awareness to Iran with a number of activations, including an installation at Untitled Art Fair with plane flyovers happening in NYC and South Beach.

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