CMHR marks anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death in Iranian custody with display of Woman, Life, Freedom banner
'My hope is to echo and amplify the struggles of women in Iran,' artist Hajar Moradi says
A banner featuring the rallying cry of the recent uprising in Iran will be displayed at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights exactly one year after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in custody of Iranian morality police.
Amini was arrested for "improper attire" after she allegedly did not wear a hijab in accordance with government standards.
"It's still as painful as a year ago," said Hajar Moradi, a Toronto-based Iranian-Canadian artist who created the Woman, Life, Freedom banner being installed at the Winnipeg-based museum.
It will remain on display from Saturday until March 10, 2024.
The banner's slogan is the English translation of the Kurdish phrase Jin, Jian, Azadi, which became the motto of what Moradi calls "a feminist revolution" in the wake of Amini's death. It was chanted at Amini's funeral.
"Woman, Life, Freedom" is written across the banner in raised black lettering and surrounded by 100 messages of solidarity and support, in various languages, written on colourful squares of fabric sewn to the banner.
"I designed and created the banner to amplify a collective message, bringing together women's voices across borders," Moradi told CBC Manitoba Information Radio host Marcy Markusa on Friday.
"My hope is to echo and amplify the struggles of women in Iran."
Amini was arrested in Tehran on Sept. 13, 2022. She died three days later.
Iranian police said the cause of death was a heart attack, which caused Amini to fall into a coma before being transferred to a hospital.
But women detained with Amini alleged she suffered police brutality. Iran's morality police have been criticized in recent years for their treatment of people, especially young women.
The death sparked widespread protests in the streets of Iran, which then spread globally. Iranian women removed hijabs and some publicly cut their hair.
The hijab, or headscarf, has been compulsory for women in Iran since after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and members of the morality police enforce the strict dress code.
The letters on Moradi's banner are made up of braided fabric strings, symbolizing women's hair strands.
Growing up female in Iran, you learn early that your rights are not the same as those of men, Moradi said.
"And you learn to fight constantly, on a daily basis, for your rights, whether it's within your family, in school or at work. You become a fighter," she said.
The uprising after Amini's death wasn't something that erupted spontaneously, but was stewing for decades, Moradi said. Amini's death was the boiling point.
"It stood on the shoulders of many movements, revolutionaries, activist workers, students, religious minorities and marginalized ethnicities fighting for their rights," she said.
The upheaval has filled her with hope.
"I feel like more and more women are aware of their rights, and they don't want this situation anymore."
People in Iran are planning to gather in the streets on Saturday to mark the one-year anniversary, she said. A demonstration is also planned outside the CMHR.
"We'll see what's going to happen tomorrow," Moradi said.
Woman, Life, Freedom is on display in the CMHR's community corridor on the main level. It can be viewed free of charge during the museum's regular hours of operation.
