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‘I painted so prison wouldn’t swallow us whole’: An interview with Iranian journalist Vida Rabbani

August 19, 2025

Vida Rabbani, a journalist imprisoned in Tehran's Evin Prison following Iran's 2022 anti-government protests, transformed her confinement into artistic expression by creating paintings on bedsheets using smuggled supplies. Despite having no formal artistic training, Rabbani documented prison life through portraits of fellow inmates, interior scenes, and symbolic murals that preserved the experiences of women political prisoners. Over her 32-month imprisonment before her sentence was suspended, her art evolved from wall murals to intimate portraits that served as visual documentation where photography was banned.

Who is affected

  • Vida Rabbani, journalist and former reporter who was imprisoned for 32 months
  • Female political prisoners in Evin Prison's women's ward, including those portrayed in Rabbani's paintings (Golrokh Iraee, Pakhshan Azizi, Sepideh Kashani, Niloufar Bayani)
  • Narges Mohammadi, 2003 Nobel Peace Laureate also imprisoned at Evin
  • Families of prisoners who received paintings of inmates' living spaces
  • Prison authorities who regulated and sometimes removed her artwork

What action is being taken

  • Rabbani is continuing to paint and document her prison experiences through art after her release
  • Rabbani is sharing her prison artwork and discussing her artistic process in interviews
  • Rabbani plans to exhibit her prison paintings publicly to show others what life inside Evin Prison looked and felt like
  • Fellow former inmates are using Rabbani's artwork to raise awareness about specific cases, such as Pakhshan Azizi who received a death sentence

Why it matters

  • The paintings provide rare visual documentation of life inside Evin Prison's women's ward where photography is banned
  • The artwork preserves the experiences and faces of political prisoners who might otherwise remain invisible
  • The paintings demonstrate how art can function as both personal healing and political resistance under extreme constraint
  • Rabbani's creative process shows how limitations in prison can stimulate imagination and resourcefulness
  • The artwork reveals both the harsh realities of imprisonment and moments of solidarity among female political prisoners

What's next

  • No explicit next steps stated in the article

Read full article from source: Global Voices