n September 2022, Mahsa Zhina Amini died after being arrested by Iran’s “morality police”, for allegedly wearing her hijab improperly. Authorities claimed she had a heart attack and brain seizure, but witnesses to her arrest said she was a victim of police brutality. The uprising sparked by her death was the largest Iranian civil rights movement since the revolution in 1979, as thousands took the streets and were often met with violent subjugation from the country’s authorities.
Azadikhah adds – like Aida, speaking before the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war – that they also intend to “honour the bravery of people whose fight has taken on a new form. Currently, the people of Iran are continuing the fight in their day-to-day lives, protesting through wearing the clothes they want and not covering their hair. These acts are deliberate and have consequences that people are aware of, yet they choose to fight in this way regardless.
Those developments have stepped up another gear since the Amini protests. Back in September 2022, Azadikhah was on a tour outside Iran – visiting her home town Tehran seven months later, she entered a changing city. “There were women and girls who were not wearing the hijab, and there were men who were protecting the women. People are still protesting. This revolution really affected people and made them united, to the extent of affecting social behaviours.