MIDDLE EAST PROFILES SERIES – INTERVIEW WITH IRAN’S ARASH SOBHANI OF KIOSK – PART 1
Freedom Beat teamed up with Arash Sobhani of the Iranian band Kiosk, and Iranwire.com on a series of documentary profiles of contemporary Middle Eastern music artists who engage in nonviolent resistance through the medium of music. Arash traveled with journalist Jahanshah Javid of Iranwire to Turkey, Egypt, and Lebanon in August of 2013 to meet musicians, interview them, share ideas, and to play music together. Following his trip, Freedom Beat had a chance to profile Arash himself, his band Kiosk, and learned what he realized from his recent trip to the Middle East.
Playing Resistance by Ashley Farnan & Ali Tehrani
“YouTube, Twitter and Facebook are forbidden,
…mixed-gender kindergartens are forbidden,
…assisting earthquake victims is forbidden,
…the satellite dish is forbidden,
…bearing a resemblance to the president is forbidden.”
In the song Mamnooe (“It’s Forbidden”), the Iranian band Kiosk delineates the broad array of actions and items – seemingly innocuous, at-times comical, and yet all-too-serious – that are regulated by the Iranian state. Music itself is no exception. As Iranian politics and culture have undergone enormous changes in the past decades, so music has evolved in tandem, manipulated and censored by the state while also functioning as a medium for resistance by the Iranian people.
The 1979 Revolution was a pivotal event in contemporary Iranian history that changed the political system from an autocratic monarchy to a religious totalitarian state and thereby ushered in a new sociopolitical era. Since the Revolution, the fundamental role and acceptability of music, as defined by the Islamic Republic, has changed many times.
“Both silence and cries are forbidden…”
When the state decrees what type of music is legitimate, it is simultaneously establishing the threshold for civil resistance. The lower this threshold, the broader the scope of what qualifies as resistance. At the same time, this line that divides what is acceptable from what is not is the ever-changing product of a constant tug-of-war between the state and people in both the public and private spheres. Citizens challenge censorship and regulation through daily acts of resistance that slowly force the state to modify its red line and reevaluate what it is capable of enforcing and controlling.
“Women singing for men is forbidden…”
As has been seen in contexts as varied as that of Estonia, where the singing of banned patriotic songs was crucial in the revolution that ultimately culminated in the country’s independence; the United States, where music helped to build solidarity among activists during the Civil Rights and Anti-Vietnam War Movements; and Chile, where citizens sang and banged pots and pans to signify their numbers and express their discontent with the military dictatorship; music can play a key role in mobilizing active resistance against injustice or oppression.
In contrast to these cases of music for resistance, totalitarian contexts such as Iran offer examples of music as resistance. In such societies, where nearly every aspect of life is regulated by the state, the range of activities that counts as resistance is enormous. As a result, the very production of and listening to music becomes an act of rebellion in and of itself, regardless of whether the music is actively applied to a political goal or civil resistance campaign. As generations of Iranians coming of age after the Revolution have grown increasingly critical of the Islamic ideology that has been imposed upon them, they have turned to music as a means of expressing dissatisfaction, voicing political and social critiques, and documenting the oppression they experience.
“Showing musical instruments in public is forbidden…”
Currently, for musicians to play legally in Iran, they must seek permission from the “Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance”. Many musicians choose to make and perform music illegally and underground, or to leave the country altogether rather than censor their music and struggle with bureaucratic obstacles. For those who choose to remain in Iran, evolving technology has contributed greatly to their ability to produce music underground. After the 1979 Revolution, music production was controlled strictly by the state, with music functioning as propaganda to promote religious ideology and patriotism, particularly during the Iran-Iraq war. In the last few decades, however, as access to illicit music production technology has increased, it has become possible to make music without being dependent upon state-controlled infrastructure and funding.
“Mousavi having a heart attack is forbidden…”
This liberating technology has helped to mitigate the geographical distance between musicians who have had to flee Iran and their audience in Iran as well as sources of information and inspiration within the country. For example, during the Green Movement that emerged in 2009 in response to the fraudulent presidential election, internationally-based Iranian musicians used their art to raise awareness about events in Iran and to reinforce solidarity among the Iranian diaspora.
“Speaking here is forbidden…”
If one of the primary goals of civil resistance is to challenge the legitimacy of the oppressor and prove to others that resistance is possible, music – either for or as resistance – has enormous potential. Artists living under oppressive regimes are constantly discovering new ways to tap into this potential, utilizing new technology to fight back against the state’s attempts to silence them.
Executive Producers: Daryn Cambridge, Tim O’Keefe
Produced by Tim O’Keefe
Directed by Irene Su, Tim O’Keefe
Edited by Irene Su
Interview by Tim O’Keefe, Irene Su
Camera & Sound by Irene Su
Freedom Beat logo animation by Sang Un Jeon
Freedom Beat Middle East Series animation by Beth Wexler
Music by Tim O’Keefe
Special thanks to Iranwire.com and The International Center on Nonviolent Conflict for their support & collaboration in the making of this series.