Art as liberation in Iran
Odd as it may seem, Iran is experiencing an art boom during weeks of mass protests against a hijab-enforcing regime. Recording artists who support the street struggle are enjoying high popularity, mainly for lyrics that inspire hope and unity.
Just as strange is this: The most popular song, 鈥淔or鈥� (in Persian, 鈥淏araye鈥�), mainly recites the most common phrases used by the protesters in media posts, such as 鈥淔or dancing in the streets, for kissing loved ones鈥� and 鈥淔or women, life, freedom.鈥�
The song鈥檚 writer and singer, Shervin Hajipour, was briefly arrested last month. He is a well-known musician. The song has also been widely nominated for a Grammy in the category of best song for social change. Coldplay is playing 鈥淏araye鈥� during its current world tour.
鈥淭he single best way to understand Iran鈥檚 uprising is not any book or essay, but Shervin Hajipour鈥檚 ... 鈥楤araye,鈥欌�� wrote Karim Sadjadpour, a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 鈥淚ts profundity requires multiple views.鈥�
The song鈥檚 appeal may be that it holds a mirror to society. Art is best when it reflects with beauty and essence the deep feelings and hidden thoughts of a people seeking a better life, evoking contemplation.
鈥淎rtworks offer a change of rules in the game of discourse; they make it possible to think about shared social issues without invoking the humiliating opposition between those in the right, and those in the wrong,鈥� writes Vid Simoniti, a philosopher at the University of Liverpool, in Aeon digital magazine.
The value of the arts, if they inspire an open-ended space of thought, can thus become intertwined with the value of democracy, Mr. Simoniti states. 鈥淭he other response to the [world鈥檚] democratic crisis has, by contrast, called for a departure from calm deliberation: for anger as a political force, for indignation, for speaking truth to power.鈥�
In Ukraine as well, art has become a tool, one aimed at saving its democracy, especially as Russian bombs have targeted national monuments and cultural structures. In the embattled city of Kharkiv, for example, Ukrainians enjoyed a literary festival in September, organized by Serhiy Zhadan, an author and the frontman for a rock band, Zhadan and the Dogs. 鈥淧recisely because Kharkiv is constantly in the line of fire, it is very important for the city to experience a full life, so that it does not live in fear,鈥� Mr. Zhadan told the Kyiv Post.
As Mr. Simoniti notes, art can be a unique form of discourse if it allows audiences to contemplate issues at the heart of political clashes.
