Woman Life Freedom: ArtRise Collective Projection

A large-scale projection illumination on the museum’s façade with 30 powerful artworks in support of the women-led Iranian civil rights movement.

ArtRise Collective, in collaboration with Mozaik Philanthropy, presents Woman Life Freedom, a public art projection featuring 30 artworks by anonymous international artists. Projected onto the façade of the Asian Art Museum, these works respond to the protests against systemic gender inequality and discrimination that cuts across class, religion, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, and generations in Iran.

Since September 2022, women have been leading a peaceful civil rights’ protest movement in both large urban centers and small rural villages across Iran, garnering the support of global diaspora populations. The movement’s slogan “Woman, Life, Freedom,” chanted at the funeral of Jina Mahsa Amini in the province of Kurdistan, is drawn from the Kurdish women’s freedom movement. As a gesture of solidarity, artists in the exhibition have created artworks reflecting the movement’s central, intersectional message: that a struggle for women’s right to self-determination affirms human dignity.

This event will be held on three consecutive nights, Thursday 1/26 – Saturday 1/28, from 6 until 10 PM.

This event will be held on three consecutive nights, Thursday 1/26 – Saturday 1/28, from 6 until 10 PM.

ArtRise Collective Brings together cultural organizers, scholars, and justice advocates to support public art projects that amplify the message of the protesters in solidarity with the movement. Through a global open call, in collaboration with Mozaik Philanthropy, a powerfully resonant selection of artworks made within Iran and across its border was curated by a blind review process. Additional artworks were commissioned to reflect the diversity of the movement. Given that many of the exhibited artists reside in Iran and in consideration of the significant risks involved for those who support the protests, all of the art will be shown anonymously.

ArtRise Collective’s organizational committee includes Mahsa Hakimi (art attorney, activist, and San Francisco Art Commissioner); Neda Nobari (justice advocate and chai of San Francisco State University Foundation Board); Keely Badger (Executive Director, Mozaik Philanthrophy); and Dr. Shiva Balaghi (cultural historian at the University of California, Santa Barbara).

This exhibition is made possible through the generous support of Mozaik Philanthropy. Its premier presentation in San Francisco is made possible through the partnership of the Asian Art Museum.

Media Contact
Keely Badger
[email protected]