close button
Switch to Iranwire Light?
It looks like you’re having trouble loading the content on this page. Switch to Iranwire Light instead.
Features

Victims of Acid Attacks Organize an Art Exhibition

January 28, 2019
Iranwire Staff
4 min read
The acid attack destroyed half of Marziyeh Ebrahimi’s face — but this young woman from Isfahan still has the same sweet and disarming smile
The acid attack destroyed half of Marziyeh Ebrahimi’s face — but this young woman from Isfahan still has the same sweet and disarming smile
Mohsen Mortazavi,  a marquetry artist and teacher, was a victim of an acid attack by a coworker
Mohsen Mortazavi, a marquetry artist and teacher, was a victim of an acid attack by a coworker
The exhibition is in Tehran and runs until March 1, 2019
The exhibition is in Tehran and runs until March 1, 2019
The new temporary exhibition, at Tehran’s Reza Abbasi Museum, is the fourth show under the subject title “Identity”
The new temporary exhibition, at Tehran’s Reza Abbasi Museum, is the fourth show under the subject title “Identity”
Victims and their portraits, Victims of Acid Attacks Exhibition, Tehran, Iran, 2019
Victims and their portraits, Victims of Acid Attacks Exhibition, Tehran, Iran, 2019

The curved and quivering lines of faces with closed or ruined eyes, on display at a new Tehran exhibition called Identity, tell the stories of acid attacks victims and how their traumas have changed their lives. The pictures are marquetries, artworks created by the insertion of pieces of material such as wood, shell, or ivory into a wood surface.

The new temporary exhibition, at Tehran’s Reza Abbasi Museum, is the fourth show called “Identity” and is organized in two sections. One is dedicated to artworks by the victims of acid attacks and the other to disabled artists.

Visitors to the exhibition were also joined by some of the artists. One was Mohsen Mortazavi – his own work as an artist helped bring the exhibition to fruition. He is affable and calm as he stands by the three marquetry portraits of well-known acid attack victims that he has created: Marziyeh Ebrahimi, Masoumeh Ataei and a self-portrait of his own face after suffering an acid attack.

The second portrait shows the smiling face of a woman, holding her red shawl with the fingers of one hand, with eyelids drooping as though she is bashful. This is Masoumeh Ataei, who lost both her eyes and was terribly scarred in 2010, when she was attacked with acid by her father-in-law after the collapse of her marriage due to her husband’s drug addiction. Ataei later fought for custody of her son and has become a forceful campaigner for other victims of acid attacks.

Mortazavi, the artist, lost one of his eyes and was disfigured when a co-worker with a misplaced grudge splashed him with three liters of acid and stabbed him 16 times in 2012. Before the attack he was an illustrator – but for several years Mortazavi has concentrated on profession marquetry and he also teaches the craft.

“These pictures are part of our new identity,” he says, referring to himself and his fellow acid attack survivors featured at the exhibition.

Mortazavi’s portraits of Ataei, Ebrahimi and himself are from his private collection. The exhibition also features more of his works. One is the portrait of a child sitting on some steps in a corridor; Mortazavi says that this portrait shoes the loneliness, the sadness of the child.

Artists on Wheelchairs

Ataei herself also has artwork on display at the exhibition – along with the artists and acid attack survivors Arezoo Hasheminejad and Fatemeh Ghasemi. Fifteen artists with disabilities are also featured in the show.

Some of them, on wheelchairs or moving with the help of a cane, attended the exhibition and introduced their works to visitors. Also participating in the exhibition are 10 artists in the fields of marquetry, wood carving and sculpture. Altogether, 60 marquetries are on display.

The artworks on sale are affordable for casual collections – depending on the artist and the type of the work they are priced anywhere from 100,000 to 25 million tomans ($24 to $6,000).

Mi Chang Shin, a Korean artist who has lived in Iran for many years, is also participating in the exhibition. Her two marquetries, one from an Iranian bazaar and another featuring a tiger and her cub, are the most expensive items on sale.

“The prices have been set by the organizers depending on the years that the artist has worked, the type of the work, the kind of the wood used, and so on,” Mi explains in Persian.

Hasheminejad was 10 years old when her uncle’s wife threw acid on her. She is now a 16-year-old artist and her works are displayed at the exhibition. Her work includes small wooden decorative artworks, such as wooden paper napkin boxes, combs, necklaces, the statue of a deer and mirror frames, starting from 40,000 tomans ($10).

Ataei is also showing pottery and earthenware at the exhibition.

One visitor to the exhibition is Dr. Seyed Kamal Forootan, a specialist in plastic and reconstructive surgery, and a founder of the Iranian Society of Plastic Surgeons. He is also a founder of the Society to Support Victims of Acid Attacks and has performed many pro bono surgeries for victims.

Mortazavi shows the statue of an acid-burned face with a supporting hand holding up the face. The statue is the logo of the Society to Support Victims of Acid Attacks and Mortazavi carved it so that the many victims who have lost their eyes can touch the piece and feel it for themselves.

 

Related Coverage:

No Justice for Acid Attack Victims after Four Years, July 20, 2018

Police Clash with Acid Attack Protesters, July 21, 2015

Acid Attacks in Western Azarbaijan, July 16, 2015

Acid Attack Death Exposes Iran’s Dangerous Laws, May 13, 2015

Acid Attack Victim Dies, April 16, 2015

“Well, you know, we haven't found the acid throwers. That's all I can say.”, December 12, 2014

What is Behind the Acid Attacks?, November 10, 2014

Isfahan Gripped by Fear as Authorities Fail to Arrest Acid Attackers, November 3, 2014

Journalists Detained for Reporting Acid Attack Protest, October 28, 2014

Iran’s Top Security Body Orders Arrest of Photographer, October 27, 2014

Panic in Isfahan, as Police Fail to Arrest Acid Attack Assailants, October 22, 2014

Contradiction and Conspiracy Around Acid Attacks, October 21, 2014

Acid Attack Horror Grows in Iran, October 20, 2014

 

comments

Opinions

Iran Loses to Japan

January 28, 2019
IranWire
Iran Loses to Japan