New book ‘interrogates reality’ of persecution against Baha’is in Iran 

In 2013, Maryam Safajoo harnessed her talents and began to paint artworks portraying the persecution of the Baha’is in Iran. 

“I painted scenes as I felt personally inspired to,” the United States artist says. “As my practice matured, I felt I should paint the scenes of the persecution which I grew up hearing about – the stories that were familiar to me.” 

Over time, Maryam started seeking out more details from those closest to her to better refine the scenes she was painting. “As more and more people learned about my art, [they] began reaching out to me with stories I had not heard of, and as the stories were unfamiliar to me, it required even more consultation, research and study to create the scene.” 

In July, Baha’i Publications Australia released Maryam’s new book Our Story is One – a collection of evocative paintings, compelling storytelling and in-depth interviews that provide a glimpse into the harrowing reality faced by the Baha’is in Iran since the Faith’s inception. 

While the book is comprised of moving, poignant and heart-wrenching artworks and stories, Maryam says the work is academic in nature, with the paintings based on qualitative interviews or archival research. 

“Many of the incidents I depict exist only in the memory of those individuals I am in touch with, and have no pictorial existence,” Maryam says. “In many cases if visual records did exist, they have been confiscated by the Iranian authorities in raids of homes.  

“I record the details of this history. For example, the shoes, clothes, artifacts, and environments seen in my paintings are very close to those that were there in the event.” 

A recent report released by Human Rights Watch titled ‘The Boot on My Neck’: Iranian Authorities’ Crime of Persecution Against Baha’is in Iran found that the Iranian authorities’ decades-long systematic repression of Baha’is amounts to the crime against humanity of persecution. 

“The Iranian government’s systematic oppression of Baha’is casts a shadow over every aspect of their lives and is a distressing testament to its discriminatory treatment of religious and ethnic minorities, leaving no aspect of their lives untouched by injustice,” Human Rights Watch deputy Middle East director, Michael Page, said.

Maryam says it was vital this “crime in human history” was captured and heard and she hoped her art offered visual details of important events in human history that would otherwise be lost. 

“When you write history, you may not describe what style of shoes people were wearing, or what colour their shirt was, or where a door of a particular room was located, or what season it took place in, or what type of landscape it happened in. 

“However, when you paint, these are the details that are required, and it is a different way of interrogating reality.” 

Feature Image: If The Walls Could Speak by Maryam Safajoo