What would you do if the music you wanted to make were forbidden ? What if someone in power didn't want it heard? Would you be silent? Or would you play it louder ? I first heard the voice of Mahsa Vahdat at the height of the people’s uprising in...
A week ago today, Iranians took to the streets once again, unafraid of arrest, tear gas, batons, and bullets. Their online counterparts work in tandem, airing minute to minute observations as they receive them, and 20 February was no exception. At...
As a tribute to Saneh Jaleh, who two days ago lost his life in the fight for freedom of expression, I have translated a short story written by him. Saneh Jaleh, a 26-year-old theatre student at Tehran's Arts University was killed by the regime's...
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei’s praise of the Egyptian people and encouragement of Cairo's protesters in the past two weeks have a satirical edge; especially given the pair's violent wrath towards their own...
In a New York Times op-ed last week, These Revolutions Are Not All Twitter, Andrew Woods raises the significance of “a phenomenon called pluralistic ignorance --- situations in which people keep their true preferences private because they believe...
Little Black Fish would like to share this clip of a group of Iranians in the Fars province dancing to make the best of a long traffic jam earlier this week. It is significant in a country where music and dancing are banned social activities. When...
These striking images from a Tehran production of Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler caught my eye on the Revolutionary Road Facebook page. Sadly the accompanying statement announced that the play had been shut down by the authorities; the director and cast had...
Some of the curls were thrusting out of the obligatory veil, but last week on 1 Bahman 1389 (21 January) Iranians with curly hair staged a great gathering in Tehran’s Mellat Park in celebration of the glory of their hair. The result is this great...
Six months ago Iran’s government outlawed decadent Western hair cuts for men --- ponytails and, at the other extreme, spiky crowns. Guidelines were issued in the form of a catalogue of acceptable styles. Now another dress code has been sent to...
Italian investigative journalist Emilio Casalini has made a documentary film, Iran About, focusing on Iranians and their lack of freedom. Featuring nine interviews in silhouette, the film points to aspects of everyday life that are taken for...