For the past 80 days, people have been taking to the streets across Iran to demonstrate for their basic human right of freedom. During the protests, they are attacked with tear gas, poison gas and batons, arrested, tortured, raped and murdered in the streets.

Women have become the protagonists of the revolution, above all to reclaim their oppressed bodies. For them it is no longer about the “headscarf”, but about emancipation. The women cut their hair, burn their hijabs and dance in the streets without headscarves.

In this revolution, performance in public spaces has become a particularly creative form of protest, and its performance in any form is absolutely not tolerated by the religious regime. The performers are arrested and imprisoned.

The potential and power of the rebellious body has inspired artists and activists in the Iranian diaspora as a medium of protest. For more than 60 days, the group of activists Feminista has been camping 24/7 in front of the headquarters of the Green Party in Berlin - Mitte and creates visibility with performance actions. Iranian activists in Holland perform with the empty water bottles in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to attract the attention of politicians. The performance "Blood will never be washed out" is performed by two Iranian Artists in front of the U.S Capital.

The dynamic of performance in challenging politics and making progress of the emancipation movement of women in Iran will be discussed in this talk.

Participants:

Elaheh Hatami (Dr. phil.), is a dance scholar based in Berlin. She studied dance studies at Freie Universität Berlin, where she also received her doctorate. She is author of the book Global Bodies: Dancers in Exile and Politics of Place. Her current research focuses on the relationship between corporality and performance with protest.

Elnaz Mostaan (MA), studied civil engineering in Bachelor, and monumental heritage in Masters. From 2013- 2015 she has done workshops of theater of the oppressed in Iran. Since 2020 she is part of a social and political theater collective in Berlin. At the moment she is a lecturer in Weißensee Academy of Art art Berlin. She is responsible for creating performances in Feminista activist group in Berlin.