Photo exhibit documents women's protest against Iran's hijab law
- 9 years ago
‘Witness 1979’ is an unprecedented exhibition by Iranian photographer Hengameh Golestan on show in London.
The photos, never published before, document the day in March 1979 when more than 100,000 women gathered on the streets of Tehran to protest against the new Islamic government’s hijab law, which ordered women to wear a headscarf to leave the house.
“At the time, when these demonstrations took place, nobody paid any attention,” explained Hengameh Golestan at London’s Showroom Gallery, which is hosting the exhibition. “Even the newspapers did not publish any news or reports about it. So I thought now is a very good time to make these photos public. They show a completely different image of Iranian women than what we see today. They have an important historical value.”
Golestan is also involved in a number of workshops and discussions alongside the exhibition aimed at challenging present-day perceptions of Iranian history.
“We decided to dedicate the project in a public pr
The photos, never published before, document the day in March 1979 when more than 100,000 women gathered on the streets of Tehran to protest against the new Islamic government’s hijab law, which ordered women to wear a headscarf to leave the house.
“At the time, when these demonstrations took place, nobody paid any attention,” explained Hengameh Golestan at London’s Showroom Gallery, which is hosting the exhibition. “Even the newspapers did not publish any news or reports about it. So I thought now is a very good time to make these photos public. They show a completely different image of Iranian women than what we see today. They have an important historical value.”
Golestan is also involved in a number of workshops and discussions alongside the exhibition aimed at challenging present-day perceptions of Iranian history.
“We decided to dedicate the project in a public pr