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For this body of knowledge, we looked at tendencies and the situation in Iran. This article is based on two separate conversations with festival makers originally from Iran, NA (Artistic Director and transdisciplinary artist) and SR (creative producer, agent, and curator) and additional sources. In this article, their names and the festival’s name have been anonymized. It is important to note that these conversations took place separately and both of them approach the Iranian context and the festival from different perspectives. Their input and comments should be understood separate from each other. Their input is based on their working experiences in the cultural- and festival scene in- and outside of Iran.
"Our ‘collective way of doing things’ - we call it Heyati (He'ati)- it's like community-wise management."
"Our ‘collective way of doing things’ - we call it Heyati (He'ati)- it's like community-wise management."
The Festival
The Festival is an independent online- and digital focused festival established during Covid-times, aiming to create meaningful connections between artists, audiences, and communities from all over the world. NA mentions that he understands the festival, taking place on the internet, to be a site-specific performance festival, rather than simply replacing the physical with the digital. Within the first edition, they had a focus Iranian artists, due to the cultural boycotts happening in Iran, which were notability present during that period. Now, they aim to connect people more widely, specifically focusing to create bridges for people with mobility issues, diaspora’s and international communities, people living in isolated places and those dealing with language barriers. The initiative is artists-run and currently operates without any official partners. NA explains that the festival should be understood as international, with a focus on Farsi speaking people. It is not necessarily an Iranian festival SR explains, ‘the festival [rather] belongs to the international web’. Next to main festival program, the organization now also organizes symposia and (virtual) residencies.
Key concepts:
Online, independent festival
Artists-run festival
Social/political context
Iran, or the Islamic Republic of Iran is located in the Middle-East. The country has diverse ethnic and linguistic communities including Fars or Persians (Persian sub-groups include Mazandaranis, Tats, and Gilakis), Azeris or Turks, Kurds, Lors, Arabs, Baloochis, Turkmens, Turkic tribal groups (e.g. Qashqai), non-Persian and non-Turkic groups (including Armenians, Assyrians and Georgians). Islam was introduced in Iran in the 7th century and has a prominent position and influence in the country’s culture and politics.
Looking at the country’s more recent history, censorship and political interventions have been enforced artists and other citizens. The period of the Shah is often described as a period of relative modernization and westernization, however in this period arrests of artists and cultural workers and censorship were not uncommon. When in 1979 the Shah (king) was overthrown, the theocratic Islamic Republic of Iran was established. A long political crisis followed, especially when Saddam Hussein (Dictator of Iraq, 1937-2006) invaded the country in 1980, resulting in 8 years of war. Currently, the leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran can be described as a Islamic theocratic authoritarian state. Both ideological and political decision making regarding domestic and international policies are under strict supervision of the Supreme Leader. After the revolution, the government has found structural ways to suppress independent and critical (cultural) voices either directly through policies or indirectly through Islamic mobs or proxies. Censorship regulations are strongly present, with moral police units controlling society on ideological levels. Due to this strictly authoritarian regime, the country knows a large diaspora with Iranians living all over the world. The government heavily suppress movements who call for democracy, freedom and gender equality. Currently, the country is marked by heavy political and economic international sanctions.
After the death of Jina Mahsa Amini in 2022 and the following ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ protests the marked again a period of vocal criticism against the regime, demanding gender equality, freedom and democracy. Multiple communities are collaboratively involved in these protests, strengthening the movements and calling out for the recognition of the multi-ethnicity and multilingualism of the country. Regardless of the high number of arrests and executions which followed the protests , NA also sees certain changes happening in the Iranian society. He observes a younger generation who is demanding even more strongly their democratic rights, protesting and participating in public events voicing strongly against the leadership.
Key concepts:
Islamic theocracy, authoritarianism
Revolutions and protests for democracy
Multi-ethnicity and multilingualism
Diaspora
Cultural Sector
Cultural policies are often in friction with each other, objectives often oppose one another. Iranian authorities aim on the one hand to ‘keep ‘’culture’’ defined as a set of values’’ while on the other hand ‘’post-revolutionary trends have been towards the loosening of the state’s cultural controls over people’s everyday lives’. Regardless, the cultural scene in Iran is marked by heavy censorship, controlled by a censorship committees, who needs to be informed and controls every step (e.g. scripts, posters and communication texts, rehearsals, shows, after talks etc.) within a cultural and artistic productions. SR explains that these committees are built on- and contribute to high levels of distrust within society. As a response, the underground scene operates outside these restrictions, performing and showcasing work in bunkers and other underground venues. SR points out that even though these events are organized underground, institutional entities are often aware of these events regardless. In the 2010’s, a large underground international dance festival was dismantled. As a result, many dancers have been arrested, interrogated and passports have been taken away. Large amounts of artists moved abroad in order to continue their work.
The independent- and often underground scene grew significantly after the death of Jina Mahsa Amini (2022). It was a trigger for many people and artists, who no longer want to deal with political control and regulations. SR observes more cultural workers and artists are operating on ground during- and after the Women, Life, Freedom revolution, for example with street performances . NA observes something similar, he notices how younger generations of artists are more vocal. People have started to organize more public events such as festivals.
There is little to no funding for culture, not even for institutional cultural organizations. The little funds that are present, are mainly located within governmental cultural venues such as performing arts centers. Cultural events and festivals that are organized in collaboration are often partnership with universities, which are state funded too. This limits the organization of festivals who do not want to align with the ideological restrictions set by these institutional entities. Some individuals work in collaboration with institutional entities within official agreements following censorship regulations in order to also have ‘unofficial’, independent projects next to this. This working between- and outside the boundaries creates both possibilities but also difficulties regarding the relations and collaborations one has with various people and communities.
Due to large numbers of international sanctions, financial transactions are difficult to make. This means that many independent festivals are forced to ask their (international) artists and staff to work mainly on a voluntary basis.
Key concepts:
Censorship
Political interventions
Independent and underground scene
Street performances and public events as form of resistance
Young generations
Institutional & independent work
International sanctions
Threats, Struggles and Challenges
There are numerous struggles and threats for people working in the cultural sector in Iran. NA mentions a number of concrete issues: having to deal with censorship committees, governmental supervision (especially in institutional settings), costume codes, the potential of arrest and interrogation when attending events.
Other, more general issues relate to a large lack of (financial) resources and knowledge. SR points out that there is very little research, knowledge and education on Iranian cultural management and cultural policy. He also mentions that this gap is a political issue, effectively resulting in a lack of (international) connections, little knowledge exchange and poor (English) language skills. Those who do want to, for example, create international collaboration, deal with visa issues and restricted mobility. During Covid, social distancing created even more difficulties to travel. There was restricted access to independent and underground venues, making it even more difficult for artists and cultural workers to create and organize events.
Talking specially about the Festival, NA explains how Online theatre became a valuable medium during these times, but should considered an addition rather than the replacement of physical theatre.
Key concepts:
Censorship
Lack of resources, research and knowledge
Covid and social distancing
Restricted international collaboration and mobility
Tools, Strategies and Positions
In response to the threats and struggles, festivals and other cultural organizations, have found ways to deal with various censorship issues by focusing on independent organizing. The facilitation and creation of these type of spaces for people to participate is highly important. In these spaces, (international) communities are able to connect and be in conversation. The ‘mutual pain’, as NA calls it, was even stronger during Covid, as communities all over the world shared similar challenges. Hence, they felt the need to organize a new type of festival during this period.
Collaborations, both national and international are important within the organization of festivals and other cultural productions. Not only between artists and cultural workers for productions and events, but also in terms of education and knowledge exchange on topics such as touring and professionalization. There seems to be an important role for individuals who take up the role to create connections, assisting in administrative tasks and share knowledge through more open-source methods and without any institutional or official leads.
Archiving is another important tool to resist a homogeneous presentation of culture and identity. It gives the possibility to share knowledge and resources, but also to store and ‘legitimize’ cultural diversity. The archiving of the underground and independent arts also comes with certain risks, making information also traceable.
The use of metaphor within communication and cultural productions has a long history in contexts with high censorship or more conservative cultures. But also the downplaying of one’s own production towards censorship committees has been used as a tool in order to go through the procedure more quickly. SR mentions the example of puppet theatre, which has a long history of being a way in which political matters could be brought to the public without being censored; ‘’they were the puppets and nobody was taking them serious. But at the same time they [the puppets] were talking in a different way about political issues that existed in the society, without people even noticing.’’ In addition, language can also be a very impactful resource. SR mentions that ‘’as [it is] a metaphorical language, you can say anything you want, in any way you want, without people noticing what you want’’. Last, the act of self-censorship is not uncommon within cultural organizing.
The Festival, has found the digital space an effective platform to organize more independently and gives them possibilities to connect and build up a community in different ways. As there are always still risks involved for participants, even when events are taking place in digital spaces, the festival offers the possibility to participate in anonymous ways. For example by participating under a nickname or avatar. They also work with consent forms, especially in the case of recorded sessions. Because of this relative safety, NA refers to ‘digital spaces as megaphones’, amplifying voices from those who might not be able to speak up in other spaces. Additionally, the digital space also gives more possibilities for international collaboration.
Key concepts:
Facilitation and creation of safer spaces for conversations
The digital and the internet
(International) collaboration
Archiving
Metaphor and language
Self-censorship
Curation and Organisation
Within Iran, independent festivals and cultural organizing are often dependent on volunteering and people’s willingness to self-finance. This also means that theatre and the arts are side- or ‘passion' jobs. Micro-scale festivals are often the solution to organize events with limited resources. Collaborations with theatres (also internationally) and other independent venues are also crucial in these contexts.
There is limited research and education on Iranian cultural organizing as such. SR describes a specific type of working approach he observes in Iran, which emphasizes a ‘collective way of doing things’. ‘We call it Heyati (He'ati). It's like community-wise management, …the thing is that nobody is leaning towards the other person to really do their job. Because everybody is saying, hey, there is this table and we need to move it from one room to another; the table being the festival, we need to keep all sides of the table all together and move it, otherwise it doesn't work. And this is something that I really love. Sometimes I miss this in the structures of festivals outside of Iran, I see how hierarchical it is. It's supposed to be a teamwork but it's not necessarily team work. I'm not saying the Iranian model is good, I'm not saying the European model or the non-Iranian model is good. I would like, personally, on a very subjective level, rather emerge of these two. Because I like to have this human relation at the same time as the practicalities of doing something.’
The Festival is fully run by volunteers, interns and artists without any official partners or funders. During the second edition of the festival, they hosted internships in collaboration with a USA University. The collaboration between students, artists, creators and programmers is an important element in sustaining the festival. Additionally, an international curatorial team and a more horizonal organizational model are also important features in the festival’s organizational strategies. Through these organizational choices, they manage to run the festival with limited sources and independently from mayor funding systems and partners.
Key concepts
Volunteering, self-financing and artist-run festivals
International collaborations
Independent festivals
Micro-scale festivals
Community-wise management
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