Iranian Artist’s London Exhibition, Painting Is Like Relaxing For Me, Educates About Oppression With Freedom Of Expression

On The Table Read, “the best arts magazine in the UK“, Raoof Haghighi educates about his belief in the significance of truth for Iran’s future, particularly for Iranian women’s freedom, in his new exhibition in April 2023.

Painting Is Like Relaxing For Me

Raoof Haghighi’s mid-April London exhibition, “Painting Is Like Relaxing For Me” investigates his graceful, no limits reaction to the limitations and mastery of his fellow nationals and brutal treatment of women. His drawings respond to decades of being denied speech by focusing on prohibited topics and communicating as freely as possible.

Raoof’s works have become a shining example of the Persian tradition of poets, artists, and philosophers because they express what those who remain in Iran are unable to say.

Raoof has increased his efforts ever since the Iranian government banned him from using Instagram, where he has 223,000 followers. At the Royal Institute of Portrait Painters, Raoof painted a portrait of a tattooed woman playing with her hijab in honor of “all the brave women in Iran who are currently fighting for their freedom.”

Adam And Eve

He also painted a portrait of actress and activist Golshifteh Farahani, hashtagged a drawing of a woman’s loose hair turning into wings with the hashtag #MahsaAmini, the woman who died in suspicious circumstances after being jailed for not covering her hair, adding to his “Adam & Eve” series, exposing the hypocrisy of forced veils.

Just Take Them And Leave Me Alone

The window piece titled “Just Take Them and Leave Me Alone” in the exhibition addressed the most raw emotion at the heart of the Iranian Women’s Rights movement. It shows a woman in a surreal situation who, after having her breasts and groin removed, is free of the abusive constraints or demands she was subjected to as a result of the male response to those parts of her body.

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