We are in a period where art and politics are moving away from each other. The surprising thing is that an approach to art that does not shy away from confronting the facts still maintains its striking power. This intimidates autocratic rulers so much that they do their best not to give credit to this kind of art. The ups and downs of the Iranian artist Nicky Nadyoumi, from the reign of the shah to the reign of the mullahs, provides a typical example of this.
DARK SIDE
In A Revolution on Canvas, his daughter Sara Nadyoumi traces 100 of her father’s works, which disappeared after he fled to America in 1980. The documentary both shows the dark side of the increasingly violent mullah rule in Iran and reflects sections of the life of a family torn apart by political fluctuations.
Nicky Nadyoumi met Nahid Hagigat, who is of Jewish origin, during his university years in Tehran. Like Nicky, Nahid is a very young and talented artist, and she is especially sensitive to women’s issues. Nicky, on the other hand, focuses on current events in Iran. In his paintings, he creates a world where the real and the surreal intertwine. The artist attracted attention even during his student years with his stance against the Shah of Iran, investigations began against him, and he was imprisoned for a while. His turbulent life seems to calm down when he marries Nahid and establishes a new life for himself in America. But when the Iranian revolution began in 1979, he returned to Iran despite the reactions of Nahid, who was left alone with her little daughter Sara, to support the revolution.
‘TRAITOR’
At that time, he exhibited his works upon an offer from the director of the Tehran Museum of Modern Arts. But the day after the opening of the exhibition, the exhibition was raided and his paintings were destroyed, and Nadyoumi was declared a traitor and targeted. The reason for this aggression is that one of his paintings shows Khomeini as a man full of anger and questions the violence in the Islamic revolution. Nicki quickly escapes to America. Tehranians frequently witnessed such art attacks in the following years. Years later, the documentarians were very happy when they found the then director of the Tehran Museum of Modern Art in California. But the manager, who has relations with the Iranian administration, remembers neither the artist nor his paintings.
ONLY PHOTOGRAPHS REMAIN
As for Nahid, she could not think of anything other than betraying her own art and supporting her family. Years have passed, but traumas remain. “Monotheist religions,” he says, “are designed solely to oppress women and deny them any right to life.” Patriarchy is experienced not only in religion but in every aspect of society. Otherwise, Nahid would not give up her art.
Just as the lost paintings were about to be removed from the museum’s storeroom and sent to the artist through intermediaries sent to Tehran, security confiscated the paintings. Then the mullah administration explains that such an exhibition has never been held. All that remains are photographs of the paintings. It is impossible not to get emotional while watching the movie. The cruelty of the mullah’s rule, the disappointment Nadyoumi felt like millions of young people from the left, the lost paintings, the culture shock the artist experienced when he escaped from Tehran and came to Miami, life in exile, the disintegration of a family, Nahid giving up her art for her family… While all these themes hit people like a slap in the face, the destructive power of religion and patriarchy emerges.
Source: www.cumhuriyet.com.tr
