IRANIAN GRAFFITI

IRANIAN GRAFFITI [INSTALLATION]

IRANIAN GRAFFITI is an immersive audiovisual installation exploring how graffiti—traditionally associated with free speech and grassroots protest—was appropriated by the Islamic Republic of Iran and turned into an instrument of state propaganda.

What began as a decentralized visual language of revolution in 1979 gradually evolved into a centralized propaganda apparatus. Quickly painted slogans, posters and stencils gave way to monumental murals in bold, almost pop-art colours. Particularly prominent are the portraits of soldiers killed during the Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988), stylized as martyrs to reinforce official narratives of sacrifice, national identity and religious devotion. All the while, unsanctioned graffiti by independent artists and protesters is illegal. It is not considered a minor misdemeanor or simple property damage, but prosecuted under national security laws on charges of "propaganda against the state" or even "enmity against God," carrying draconian sentences.

The installation traces this transformation through photographs, moving images and sound, exposing how public walls have been turned from contested spaces of expression into an increasingly state-controlled visual monologue. It maps the transition from the decentralized propaganda of the 1979 revolution that started as stencil graffiti, to a centralized propaganda apparatus over the next 40 plus years resulting in full fledged pop-color murals.

VISUAL DOCUMENTATION

The installation grew out of a photographic series I created while travelling through Iran in 2014 and 2015. From the streets of Tehran and Isfahan to roadside mosques and public toilets in the central desert, I documented the omnipresence of revolutionary imagery and martyr portraits in everyday life. The photographs below offer a selection from this archive.

[Tehran: (Photo credits: Shermin Voshmgir 2014)]

Isfahan 2014: Pictures of Martyrs of Iran-Irak War. (Photo credits: Shermin Voshmgir 2014)

Southern Tehran: Pictures of Martyrs of Iran-Irak War. (Photo credits: Shermin Voshmgir 2014)

Roadside Mosque in Irans Centra Desert with pictures of Martyrs 2014 (Photo credits: Shermin Voshmgir 2014)

Public Toilet in Irans Centra Desert with pictures of Martyrs (Photo credits: Shermin Voshmgir 2014)

STAGING OF INSTALLATION

IRANIAN GRAFFITI is a site-specific, immersive audiovisual installation designed to recreate the monumental scale and visual impact of Iran's urban propaganda.

The ideal setup requires:

One or more large vertical projection surfaces, ideally 5–7 metres high, to recreate the scale of the original murals.
A darkened indoor space or black box. Outdoor installations are also possible after nightfall.
A dedicated sound environment with minimal interference from surrounding activities.
A flexible spatial configuration adapted to the available walls and projection surfaces.

For smaller venues, the installation can be adapted to a single projection surface, with the visual material presented in a continuous audiovisual loop.

The mockup below illustrates a possible large-scale configuration.

BACKGROUND INFO

During the Iranian Revolution of 1978–1979, public walls became a medium of mass communication. With printing facilities largely controlled by the Shah's government, protesters turned to handwritten slogans, posters, stencils and quickly painted images to spread revolutionary messages. Walls became public canvases for political expression, carrying the voices of a broad coalition of Islamist, leftist, secular, nationalist and student movements. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's portrait became one of the most widely reproduced symbols of the revolution. His image circulated through posters and wall paintings, often alongside other revolutionary figures, including Ali Shariati. Different opposition groups, including the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), initially rallied behind Khomeini, even though they represented competing political visions for the country's future.

During the revolutionary period of 1978–79, Khomeini’s image was applied directly to walls as rapidly reproducible symbols and belong to the short-lived, decentralized visual culture of the revolution before street imagery was absorbed into state propaganda (Source: Dreamtime.com)

FROM REVOLUTIONARY GRAFFITI TO STATE PROPAGANDA

The visual language of the revolution was decentralized, improvised and relatively easy to reproduce. Ordinary people could participate by painting a slogan, copying an image or pasting a poster onto a public wall. In this way, the streets themselves became a rapidly evolving communication network.

But after the revolution, as Khomeini and his allies consolidated power, rival political groups were increasingly suppressed and the visual landscape began to change. The diverse revolutionary imagery was gradually replaced by an official iconography designed to legitimize the new Islamic Republic.

What had been a medium of popular resistance was absorbed into the machinery of state propaganda.

MARTYRS IN POP COLOURS

The eight-year Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988) brought a new wave of monumental public murals. Fallen soldiers were commemorated as martyrs, their portraits painted across entire building facades in bold, saturated colours. Religious symbolism, nationalist imagery and idealized portraits combined to create a visual narrative of sacrifice, heroism and devotion to the Islamic Republic.

Many of these murals still dominate the streets of Iranian cities. Some have faded, while others are regularly restored or repainted. The result is a striking visual contradiction: an aesthetic reminiscent of pop art, often associated with rebellion and counterculture, deployed in the service of state authority.

WHO OWNS THE WALL?

While the state commissions murals to promote its own narratives, independent political graffiti remains subject to censorship and repression. Artists and protesters expressing dissent often work anonymously, knowing that their interventions may be erased within hours and that being caught can carry serious consequences.

Political graffiti can be treated not simply as property damage but as an act of political opposition. People writing anti-government slogans have been arrested and prosecuted under broadly defined charges such as "propaganda against the state," "disturbing public order" or offences against national security.

Since the 2000s

municipal beautification programmes have gradually replaced some of the more overtly ideological and military murals with images celebrating Persian cultural heritage, nature, everyday life and abstract geometric designs. Others, including revolutionary portraits, martyr commemorations and anti-American slogans, remain prominent.

The State's control over public space is not entirely uniform. Municipal authorities, religious institutions and other political actors sometimes compete over what should be painted, preserved or erased. A example occurred in Mashhad in 2011, when a mural depicting scenes from the Shahnameh, the Persian national epic, was painted over following a dispute between the municipality and the powerful religious foundation Astan-e Qods. The mural was subsequently recreated elsewhere in the city in 2013.

Recreated shahnameh mural at se rah-e adiban. images from Iroon.com (Source: AJAM)

Geometric patterns decorating a wall in Mashhad (Source: AJAM)

THE UNDERGROUND COUNTER-LAYER

In parallel, an independent graffiti and street-art scene has continued to develop, mixing Persian calligraphy with international graffiti styles. Artists often work anonymously, using stencils and other quickly executed techniques, sometimes in less visible locations to avoid immediate removal. One example is the anonymous street artist Black Hand, whose stencils appeared across Tehran in the 2010s, addressing issues ranging from gender inequality to economic injustice. Many of these works were painted over shortly after appearing.

This underground visual language became particularly visible during periods of political unrest. During the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom uprising, protesters covered walls with slogans, portraits and symbols of resistance. Municipal workers and pro-government groups painted over them, often only for new messages to reappear the following night.

The wall had once again become a battleground between competing political narratives, with protesters reclaiming the very medium that had helped bring the Islamic Republic to power decades earlier.