Parvin Ardalan, born in Tehran to a Kurdish family, has spent decades at the forefront of Iran’s feminist movement. A journalist, writer, and activist, she co-founded the One Million Signatures Campaign in 2006, a daring initiative to challenge the country’s discriminatory laws against women. Her advocacy has come at a steep personal price—arrests, trials, and a travel ban that prevented her from accepting the prestigious Olof Palme Prize in 2007. Forced into exile in 2009, Ardalan now resides in Sweden. Yet her connection to Iran remains unbroken.
Since the Woman, Life, Freedom movement began in 2022, protests led by Iranian women have captured the world’s attention, with artists like Toomaj Salehi playing a pivotal role in the uprising. Musa Igrek of Freemuse speaks with Ardalan about the state of artistic expression in Iran and how artists resist the machinery of repression. She is also contributing to Freemuse’s the State of Artistic Freedom 2025 report on Iran, offering a critical lens on the struggles of Iranian artists under repression.
“Artistic activity in Iran is navigating through censorship and a multifaceted and totalitarian tyranny.“
Musa Igrek – In Iran, what is it about underground cinema and protest music that has made them such powerful focal points of resistance?
Parvin Ardalan – Artists have indeed become one the pillars in Iran’s resistance movement. The current conditions in Iran are shaped by intertwined forms of resistance that link protest actions to protest art. This movement didn’t emerge overnight but took shape over decades, culminating in the Woman, Life, Freedom movement. We’re now witnessing dynamic artistic protests that emerge from within the movement’s discourse, not alongside it. Activists, artists, and supporters are all woven into the fabric of resistance. Cinema and music both draw inspiration from the uprising and its social context, while simultaneously inspiring the movement through artistic creation.
In the past, voices of criticism and protest were mostly individual, starting with attempts to circumvent official censorship. Now, however, ignoring official censorship has become a collective act of protest and revolutionary action. The formation of the Iranian Independent Filmmaker Association (IIFMA) outside Iran after the Woman, Life, Freedom movement is a testament to this shift towards institution-building within the resistance.
MI – Iranian artists work under intense pressure, yet their creativity resonates far beyond their borders. What lessons can the global community learn from the courage and creativity of Iranian artists in their fight for freedom?
PA – Artistic activity in Iran is navigating through censorship and a multifaceted and totalitarian tyranny. It is along this path that creation occurs. In this path pain, fear, and anger become poetry, images, and songs. Courage is contagious.
“Repression may silence artistic expression for a while, but it cannot stop the growth of resistance.“
MI – In the face of ongoing repression, how do you see artistic freedom evolving in Iran? Is there any room for it to expand?
PA – Repression in Iran has throughout the years taken a variety of forms against writers, artists, and dissidents, both to silence their voices in the present and to prevent artistic expression in the future. But the experience of these years has shown that repression may silence the artistic expressions for a while, but it cannot stop the growth of resistance. Especially since the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, this resistance has not only expanded but also shows no intention of retreating and by becoming smarter, more tech-savvy, and more determined to challenge closed spaces every day.
MI – What can international audiences and institutions do to meaningfully support Iranian artists and amplify their voices?
PA – International solidarity with artists, especially those at risk or in detention, plays a major role in maintaining the artists’ safety by putting pressure on the Iranian government by increasing international pressure to release the detainees. In addition, creating a platform for artists to be heard and their works to be recognized is another step towards overcoming censorship and repression in Iran.
“Ignoring official censorship has become a collective act of protest and revolutionary action.“
MI – Iran appeared before the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva for its Universal Periodic Review on 24 January, a key moment to assess its human rights record. Unsurprisingly, artistic freedom wasn’t mentioned. But have such hearings ever led to tangible progress, particularly for freedom of expression—and artistic freedom specifically?
PA – The UPR, like other UN platforms, is an opportunity for human rights institutions to reflect on the issues of human rights violations in Iran in the global arena. Maintaining and using these platforms is important and can bring international pressure in favour of positive changes for the benefit of Iranian citizens. Especially now that the current government is trying to expand communication and interaction with the international community. However, from the Iranian regime´s perspective, it usually views the efforts of critics and opponents, especially in the field of art, as slander and an act against national security.
Iran declares that it is committed to human rights, while freedom and human rights in Iran are defined within the framework of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Accordingly, freedom of expression, art, belief, religion is acceptable, but with one condition. Everything is permissible if it is done in accordance with Islamic law. With this one condition – censorship, reprimand, and punishment of dissidents, writers, critical artists, and protesters – are considered legal and legitimate.