{{Short description|US-based non-profit organization and art project}} thumb|right|Logo '''PaykanArtCar''' is a non-profit organization and art project, based in the US. It is focused on human rights issues in Iran.
==The car== The non-profit organization, based in Florida, has purchased a car, now also called the PaykanArtCar, and intends to let different Iranian activist artists work on it as an art project, meant to highlight various political issues and repressed communities in Iran. The car is an Iranian Paykan, gifted in 1974 by Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran to Nicolae Ceaușescu, dictator of Romania. It was bought at an auction in 2021 for €95 000.<ref name="Iranian Artists-in-Exile Find a Vehicle for Protest">{{cite news |last1=Gosh |first1=Bobby |author1-link=Bobby Ghosh |title=Iranian Artists-in-Exile Find a Vehicle for Protest |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-06-04/iranian-artists-in-exile-find-a-vehicle-for-protest?leadSource=uverify%20wall |access-date=25 November 2022 |work=Bloomberg News |date=4 June 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="To Protest Iran’s Anti-Gay Abuses, an Artist Painted a Dictator’s Car">{{cite news |last1=Berk |first1=Brett |title=To Protest Iran's Anti-Gay Abuses, an Artist Painted a Dictator's Car |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/01/business/art-car-iran.html |access-date=25 November 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=1 November 2021}}</ref><ref name="Iran's national car given homoerotic makeover">{{cite web |last1=Stroude |first1=Will |title=Iran's national car given homoerotic makeover to make a stand against anti-gay persecution |url=https://www.attitude.co.uk/culture/sexuality/irans-national-car-given-homoerotic-makeover-to-make-a-stand-against-anti-gay-persecution-304685/ |website=Attitude |access-date=27 November 2022 |date=16 March 2022}}</ref>
==2021== [[File:Alireza Shojaian PaykanArtCar.jpg|thumb|Alireza Shojaian with the 2021 PaykanArtCar]] The art car was first exhibited in October 2021 at the Oslo Freedom Forum in Miami, held by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF).<ref name="To Protest Iran’s Anti-Gay Abuses, an Artist Painted a Dictator’s Car" /> The first artist to paint the car was Alireza Shojaian, an exiled Iranian. Shojaian, working with an airbrush for the first time, took inspiration from the story of Rostam, a legendary Persian hero, the art of 20th century Iranian artist Hossein Qollar-Aqasi, and connected them to the 2021 murder of the gay Iranian Ali Fazeli Monfared,<ref name="The PaykanArtCar is putting LGBTQ+ rights for Iranians on the map">{{cite news |last1=Jarrell |first1=Zachary |title=The PaykanArtCar is putting LGBTQ+ rights for Iranians on the map |url=https://www.losangelesblade.com/2022/01/02/the-paykanartcar-is-putting-lgbtq-rights-for-iranians-on-the-map/ |access-date=25 November 2022 |work=Los Angeles Blade |date=3 January 2022}}</ref><ref name="Alireza Shojaian’s art painted on a vintage Iranian Paykan car">{{cite news |last1=Gordon |first1=Daphne |title=Alireza Shojaian's art painted on a vintage Iranian Paykan car challenges Middle Eastern ideals of what it means to be a man |url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/visualarts/2021/12/10/alireza-shojaians-art-painted-on-a-vintage-iranian-paykan-car-challenges-middle-eastern-ideals-of-what-it-means-to-be-a-man.html |access-date=25 November 2022 |work=Toronto Star |date=10 December 2021 |language=en}}</ref> as well as the executed Iranian wrestler Navid Afkari.<ref name="To Protest Iran’s Anti-Gay Abuses, an Artist Painted a Dictator’s Car" /> Shojaian said
{{Blockquote |text=The aim of this edition of the PaykanArtCar is to shed light on the deadly abuse of LGBTQIA+ people in Iran, a problem that has been repeatedly denied by the regime and neglected by Iranian society, including in the diaspora.<ref name="Alireza Shojaian">{{cite web |last1=Shojaian |first1=Alireza |title=Alireza Shojaian |url=https://paykanartcar.com/alireza-shojaian/ |publisher=PaykanArtCar |access-date=6 August 2023 |date=2021}}</ref>}}
The organization received the Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent from the HRF, who said that the car was "a daring piece of art that advocates for human rights and dignity in Iran."<ref name="CNN.com - Transcripts">{{cite news |last1=Anderson |first1=Becky |author1-link=Becky Anderson |title=CNN.com - Transcripts |url=https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/ctw/date/2022-05-27/segment/02 |access-date=26 November 2022 |work=CNN |date=27 May 2022}}</ref><ref name="Art in Protest at the 2022 Oslo Freedom Forum">{{cite web |last1=Malak |first1=Tony |title=Art in Protest at the 2022 Oslo Freedom Forum |url=https://hrf.org/art-in-protest-at-the-2022-oslo-freedom-forum |website=Human Rights Foundation |access-date=26 November 2022 |date=23 June 2022}}</ref>
The car has been exhibited in Canada and Brussels, Belgium.<ref name="Artist Alireza Shojaian protests Iran’s anti-LGBTQ stance">{{cite news |last1=Taylor |first1=Kate |title=Artist Alireza Shojaian protests Iran's anti-LGBTQ stance through his transformation of a vintage Iranian car |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/art-and-architecture/article-artist-alireza-shojaian-protests-irans-anti-lgbtq-stance-through-his/ |access-date=25 November 2022 |work=The Globe and Mail |date=23 November 2021 |language=en-CA}}</ref><ref name='"Zan, Zendegi, Azadi": PeykanArtCar, een voertuig voor mensenrechten in Iran'>{{cite news |last1=Bashar |first1=Baharak |title="Zan, Zendegi, Azadi": PeykanArtCar, een voertuig voor mensenrechten in Iran |url=https://www.dewereldmorgen.be/artikel/2022/11/10/zan-zendegi-azadi-peykanartcar-een-voertuig-voor-mensenrechten-in-iran-lgbtiq/ |access-date=25 November 2022 |work=DeWereldMorgen|language=nl |date=10 November 2022}}</ref><ref name="PaykanArtCar exhibit rolls into Montreal">{{cite news |title=PaykanArtCar exhibit rolls into Montreal to drive home message of dignity for Iranian people |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/article/paykanartcar-exhibit-rolls-into-montreal-to-drive-home-message-of-dignity-for-iranian-people/ |access-date=25 November 2022 |work=CTV News |date=11 March 2022 |language=en}}</ref> It was meant to be shown at AsiaNow, an art fair in Paris,<ref name="PaykanArtCar Uses Art and Advocacy for Human Rights in Iran -">{{cite web |last1=Williams |first1=Keegan |title=PaykanArtCar Uses Art and Advocacy for Human Rights in Iran - |url=https://www.outfrontmagazine.com/paykanartcar-art-advocacy-human-rights-iran/ |website=Out Front |access-date=27 November 2022 |date=6 October 2021}}</ref> but the invitation was revoked.<ref name="The PaykanArtCar is putting LGBTQ+ rights for Iranians on the map" /><ref name="La PaykanArtCar censurée au Paris Asian Art Fair 2021 ?">{{cite web |last1=Nogara |first1=Louise |title=La PaykanArtCar censurée au Paris Asian Art Fair 2021 ? |url=https://laregledujeu.org/2021/10/19/37788/la-paykanartcar-censuree-au-paris-asian-art-fair-2021/ |website=La Règle du Jeu |language=fr |access-date=27 November 2022 |date=19 October 2021}}</ref> A representative of AsiaNow stated that
{{Blockquote |text=The problem is neither the artist nor the project, but the organization supporting this project, which uses the L.G.B.T.Q.+ cause for priority reasons that are other than purely artistic, and which endanger the safety of the people working with us on our Iranian platform."<ref name="To Protest Iran’s Anti-Gay Abuses, an Artist Painted a Dictator’s Car" />}}
==2023== [[File:Masih Alinejad at the PaykanArtCar unveiling in Oslo.jpg|thumb|Masih Alinejad speaking at the PaykanArtCar unveiling in Oslo 2023, Simin Keramati is standing to her left]] The second installment of the PaykanArtCar was first shown in Oslo, Norway, outside the Oslo Concert Hall, in June 2023. This installment was created by Simin Keramati, Iranian-Canadian artist.<ref name="Activists say the human rights movement is failing">{{cite news |last1=Toosi |first1=Nahal |title=Activists say the human rights movement is failing |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2023/06/18/activists-human-rights-movement-00102484 |access-date=3 August 2023 |work=Politico |date=18 June 2023 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Un coche cubierto">{{cite news |last1=Blanco |first1=Patricia R. |title=Un coche cubierto con pelo de iraníes o tiques de ropa con el rostro de presos uigures: propuestas artísticas para denunciar la represión |url=https://elpais.com/planeta-futuro/2023-08-06/un-coche-cubierto-con-pelo-de-iranies-o-tiques-de-ropa-con-el-rostro-de-presos-uigures-propuestas-artisticas-para-denunciar-la-represion.html |access-date=6 August 2023 |work=El País |date=6 August 2023 |language=es}}</ref> She covered the car with women's hair, with the intent that the art project shall raise awareness of the struggle of Iranian women, as well as pay tribute to the death of Mahsa Amini and the following Mahsa Amini protests.<ref name="Denne bilen er tildekket av kvinnehår">{{cite news |last1=Paust |first1=Thomas |title=Denne bilen er tildekket av kvinnehår: – Mullaene skjelver |url=https://www.nettavisen.no/nyheter/denne-bilen-er-tildekket-av-kvinnehar-mullaene-skjelver/s/5-95-1156627 |access-date=3 August 2023 |work=Nettavisen |date=13 June 2023 |language=no}}</ref><ref name="Hårprotest">{{cite news |last1=Castello |first1=Claudio |title=Hårprotest utenfor Oslo konserthus |url=https://www.utrop.no/nyheter/nytt/341973/ |access-date=3 August 2023 |work=Utrop |date=15 June 2023}}</ref> Keramati said
{{Blockquote |text=The Paykan car itself, the canvas for this installation, is a typically masculine element in Iranian society. Covering this classic national car with natural women’s hair, I appropriate this figure as a female body.<ref name="Simin Keramati">{{cite web |last1=Keramati |first1=Simin |title=Simin Keramati - Artist Statement |url=https://paykanartcar.com/simin-keramati/ |publisher=PaykanArtCar |access-date=6 August 2023 |date=January 2023}}</ref> }}
Women's rights activist Masih Alinejad, present at the unveiling, said {{Blockquote |text=We are here to say that all this hair symbolizes the brutality of this gender apartheid regime. ... I ask Norwegian women to touch and feel this hair. Think you could be killed for this. Just a little hair can get you killed in 21st century Iran.<ref name="Denne bilen er tildekket av kvinnehår" /> }}
==People== PaykanArtCar was founded by Mark Wallace, American ambassador to the United Nations 2006–2009, and Hiva Feizi, the organization's executive director.<ref name="Iranian Artists-in-Exile Find a Vehicle for Protest" /><ref name="To Protest Iran’s Anti-Gay Abuses, an Artist Painted a Dictator’s Car" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Hiva Feizi |url=https://paykanartcar.com/hiva-feizi-executive-directory/ |website=PaykanArtCar |access-date=27 November 2022}}</ref>
==See also== *BMW Art Car, another car related art project *LGBT rights in Iran
== References == {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{official|https://paykanartcar.com/}} *[https://www.artnews.com/art-news/sponsored-content/paykanartcar-tours-canada-1234609646/ PaykanArtCar: A Driving Force Against Human Rights Abuses Tours Canada], sponsored 2021 article at ''ARTnews'', with pictures *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhugSprH0_0&t=1s Car Virtual Video], 2022 video by PaykanArtCar *[https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/sundayextra/13920906 Prize winning car art with a message to Iran], 2022 interview with Hiva Feizi on Radio National *[https://www.artnews.com/art-news/sponsored-content/2023-paykanartcar-honors-the-woman-life-freedom-movement-in-iran-1234679413/ 2023 PaykanArtCar Honors the Woman, Life, Freedom Movement in Iran], sponsored 2023 article at ''ARTnews'', with pictures
Category:Non-profit organizations based in Florida Category:LGBTQ art in the United States Category:Human rights organizations Category:LGBTQ political advocacy groups in Florida Category:1970s cars Category:Art vehicles Category:Human rights in Iran Category:LGBTQ rights in Iran Category:Mahsa Amini protests