We stand in wholehearted solidarity with our Iranian people, this and every act of expression is dedicated to you
زن، زندگی، آزادی
Leila Seyedzadeh, Under the Same Sky, 2022;
Pairi Daeza Fire Within blouse, Pairi Daeza Fire Within trousers
Pairi Daeza Iceberg blouse, Pairi Daeza Zodiac Wings vest hand-embroidered with Aries iconography evoking ancient drawings in Persian manuscripts, Pairi Daeza Mini Equilibrium skirt
Leila Seyedzadeh handstitched and draped fragments of materials gathered in Iran and the U.S. form a constellatory landscape of textiles
Pairi Daeza Golnar blouse II, Pairi Daeza Golnar skirt, hand-printed in the ancient Persian ghalamkar technique
This is a women-led revolution, an intersectional movement to overthrow the Islamic Republic and free the Iranian people from the regime's all-pervasive oppression; Jin, Jiyan, Azadi, for Woman, Life, Freedom
Bound by famine but confident, the fire within a velvet sky, I found my country isn’t hidden on the moon it is here on earth absent from my reach. A fairytale enshrouded and held captive until the schoolgirls of Iran broke the wall of oppression and gave their scarves to the sun. Dream filled saplings of hope disarming violence through presence, their rebellion built on a lineage of women’s resistance connected us through mountainous space and time. The curve of a lost cloud caught visibly in the fabric heavily embedded in the constellation of care that is sisterhood. Tangles of hair now disconnected from isolating thoughts are braided and woven with birds and roses. Pairi Daeza the walled garden of ancient Persian wisdom is given another birth. The stone of the mother cannot be broken by the glass that left Iran colorless on the map for so long.
Over endless boulders of longing, Under the Same Sky, a landscape of textiles by Leila Seyedzadeh fill the air with a very personal quality. The nuance of chosen materials, cotton dyed by hand, a termeh, chador namaz, overlapped and draped, gesture fluidly towards the Shiraz school of miniature painting of the 14th to 16th centuries. A transcendent composition moves upwards in layers rather than diminishing in size and moving inward. Mystic and floral patterns, ghalamkar cloth printed from wood blocks, needles traversing eras and pinning geographies have hand-stitched us an alternative pathway home. The glitter of a sequin on embroidered chiffon, candy passed with a warm glance is kindness’s bewitching art. Let us believe in the dawn of a new Iran.
Iran is the land of poetry and love and the sun. The Iranian people are Iran. The Islamic Republic is the antitheses of Iran. We ask you to please amplify the voices of the people in Iran. This is an intersectional movement for essential human rights, for autonomy over one’s body and beliefs. Led by women, the revolution is intrinsically linked to the empowerment of women and minority groups globally, to the evolution of our collective humanity.
Leila Seyedzadeh, Under the Same Sky, 2022;
Curated by Pari Ehsan, Produced by Job Piston
Pairi Daeza Fire Within blouse, Pairi Daeza Fire Within trousers
Pairi Daeza Iceberg blouse, Pairi Daeza Zodiac Wings vest (Aries, my mother’s sun sign), Pairi Daeza Mini Equilibrium skirt
Pairi Daeza Golnar blouse II, Pairi Daeza Golnar skirt, Darner blue gingham mesh socks, D’Accori silver platform sandals
Makeup by Ayaka Nihei, Hair by Ledora Francis, Photographs by Matin Zad