variations in the martyrs' representations in south tehran's private and public spaces
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Variations in the Martyrs'Representations in South Tehran'sPrivate and Public SpacesMarine FromangerPublished online: 05 Jan 2012.
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Variations in the Martyrs’ Representations inSouth Tehran’s Private and Public Spaces
Marine Fromanger
This article analyzes the presentation of the martyr’s portrait and how it is displayedin Iranian society today. The study is based on a corpus of photos taken in publicand private spaces between 2003 and 2007, mostly in Tehran in the Aliabad areaand the cemetery of Behesht-e Zahra. The birth and development of martyr worshipin Iranian society and diverse forms of public and private representation are exam-ined. The key part of the article analyzes the image of the martyr in a poor neighbor-hood of the Iranian capital.
From 1980 to 1988 the Islamic Republic of the Ayatollah Khomeini fought againstSaddam Hussein’s Iraq, leaving more than one million estimated Iranian victims.Iran has referred to this conflict as the ‘‘ImposedWar’’ and later on as the ‘‘SacredDefense.’’ The Iranian government remembers its victims as ‘‘martyrs for Islam.’’From 1980 onwards Tehran’s outdoor walls have been covered with mural paint-ings extolling the memory of its dead. Today you can still find hundreds of thesemural paintings around.
In private the families of these martyrs keep a portrait of their child killedduring the conflict, often framed and put on a household altar. Each week themothers of the martyrs go to the largest cemetery in Tehran, Behesht-e Zahra(Zahra’s paradise), located in the south of the city, to put flowers on the tombsof their relatives.
Between 2003 and 2007, mainly in the southern working-class area of Tehranwhere most of the martyrs came from, I took a series of photographs.1 Thesepictures, taken in public and private spaces principally in the Aliabad area andthe cemetery of Behesht-e Zahra, show representations of martyrs, both photosand painted portraits, dating from the mid-1980s and the early post-war years.These pictures belong to those marginalized during the revolution: the workingclasses of Iranian society, who had invested massively in the war.
MARINE FROMANGER, who lives in Paris, began photography in 2003, and has a doctorate in arthistory (Iranian architecture). She worked on the photos of the French architect and archaeologist,Henry Viollet, who traveled in Iran during 1911–1913; and has herself made a large photo coverageof Iranian architecture. She has also worked as photographer on a film about wall paintings of themartyrs of the recent war, and is studying the popular and visual culture of martyrdom. E-mail:[email protected]
Visual Anthropology, 25: 47–67, 2012Copyright # Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 0894-9468 print=1545-5920 online
DOI: 10.1080/08949468.2012.629164
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Here, in the south of Tehran, the living and the dead converge every day. Theimage of a martyr, whether a popular or a state representation, is always signifi-cant. From a public street to a private living-room, from the front entrance of ahouse to a martyr’s father’s wallet: the dead are omnipresent, and watch overtheir loved ones.
I have followed the tracks of those portraits. They led me on a journey amongthe Iranian people which took me to the meeting-point between private andpublic territory. This article offers an analysis of the presentation of the martyr’sportrait and how it is displayed. Through a collection of photographs, a defi-nition or at least a description of its visual manifestation will be presented, aswell as the effects it has on a portion of Iranian society from the south of Tehran.
BIRTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF MARTYR WORSHIP IN IRANIAN SOCIETY
Spurred on by Ayatollah Khomeini, martyr veneration was posited as one of thefoundations of the Islamic Republic. A wide and abundant iconography, with theeffigy of the martyr, appeared in Iranian society in the form of photographs, mur-als, posters, paintings, stickers, stamps and so on. Peter Chelkowski and HamidDabashi offer numerous examples of this iconography and analyze the politicalimpact of these representations: ‘‘Never in the history of propaganda have thegraphic arts systematically played such an important role as they did in Iran inthe years 1980–88’’ [Chelkowski and Dabashi 2000: 135].
A true vehicle of propaganda during the revolution and the years following thewar, martyr veneration has recently experienced a decline in popularity withIranians in general [Perrin 2005: 15]. With the end of the war in 1988 and thedeath of Khomeini the following year, the representations of martyrs, parti-cularly wall paintings, began to disappear from the 1990s onwards. This newera was marked by ‘‘the disenchantment of the revolution’’ [Khosrokhavar2001–2002: 295]. Recently martyr veneration and its diverse forms of represen-tation have been made popular again by the present President Ahmadinejad.
Hero worship of the martyr Hoseyn, who was the Prophet’s grandson and Ali’sson, and who died at Karbala in 680 CE, assassinated by the Caliph Yazid, is a sig-nificant part of the foundation of the Iranian notion of the martyr [cf. Flaskerud,2012=this issue]. The parallel between the Iran–Iraq war and the combat betweenthe Caliph Umayyad and the companions of Hoseyn has been analyzed in numer-ous studies, especially by Kamran Aghaie: ‘‘The revolutionary Karbala paradigmcontinued to be used in new forms throughout the 1980s and 1990s. The Shah, theUnited States, Israel, and Iraq (and sometimes others nations) were equated withYazid, and the Islamic revolutionary regime and its supporters with Hoseyn andhis followers’’ [Aghaie 2004: 132]. Michael Fischer relates the words of Khomeini,faced with possible U.S. intervention in the war, asking that ‘‘all the Iranians (be)ready and willing to become martyrs just as Hoseyn and his followers (did) atKarbala in 680’’ [Fischer 1980: 235]. During that conflict numerous military opera-tions went by the code-name Karbala. The vocabulary, one easy to identify with,was borrowed from the epic war, as were the most accessible and comprehensiblemystical symbols concerning the struggle of Good against Evil. As a result of this
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tragic and massive war Iranian society reconnected with its historical habit ofover-investing the sacred in a secular society.
The myth of Hoseyn [Fahd 1976: 154–160] played a capital role in the propa-gation of martyr veneration. His image is heavily present in Iran, although hisrepresentation differs from that of other martyrs. The portrait is generallyover-idealized and adopts an immediately sacred visage [Figure 1]: a beardedface with smooth harmonious features draped in a turban; large eyes with thineyebrows; thick lips and a melancholic, even romantic air. Hoseyn stands outfrom other anonymous martyrs with his idealized portrayal, which elevateshim to the position of an icon. He who is referred to as ‘‘the Prince of Martyrs’’stands out from the others and consequently has to appear in a different light.After all, Hoseyn never had his photo taken.2 Indeed, as we will see, the connectionbetween the status of martyr and the grieving process, and between idealizationand affection, is shown in the representation through different means, bothpictorial and photographic.
DIVERSE FORMS OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE REPRESENTATION
One can find public representations of martyrs everywhere in Iran; but a largeconcentration can be found in the capital, in particular in the south of the city,as well as in other large urban centers where vast cemeteries of martyrs arelocated, such as the Behesht-e Zeynab Cemetery in Isfahan and the Behesht-eReza Cemetery in Mashhad.
Figure 1 Representation of Hoseyn, in a grocery. Aliabad, south of Tehran, winter 2007. (Colorfigure available online)
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The practice of using a photo portrait appeared very early in Iran [Adle andZoka 1983]; during the 19th century it was reserved for society’s elite—membersof the royal family and their loved ones. The people appear in portraits like anethnological curiosity. The 20th century witnessed a large diffusion of portraitsthroughout Iran. Photo portraits of soldiers were published in the press, on thecovers of magazines and appearing on posters or signs. A new kind of nationaliconography defined its heroes as the soldiers of the people sacrificing their livesfor the revolution and the war.
Martyrs represented in murals destined for public spaces were chosen fromthose soldiers who distinguished themselves during the war, either by doing aremarkably brave deed or by their high rank. This selection came from the statewho, through the intermediary of town halls and religious foundations,especially the Martyrdom Foundation (Bonyad-e shahid), established an iconogra-phy of the martyr. Still active today, this foundation, created in 1980 by Khomeiniand working under government observation, has been working for the commem-oration of martyrs ever since and directs diverse manifestations linked to theirveneration and their representations in society. The goal of the foundation is‘‘cherishing the remembrance of martyrs and those handicapped by the waras well as their families and any person living in self-sacrifice.’’3
During the war the Martyrdom Foundation distributed a certificate of authen-ticity to families of martyrs in the form of a diploma, mentioning the deceased’sdate of death as the birthdate of his becoming a martyr. This foundation has amuseum in Tehran, founded in 1996. It displays personal objects, ‘‘asar’’ (inPersian this term refers to both remnants and handicrafts) of 700 martyrs, includ-ing photographs, audio cassettes, diplomas, clothing, shoes, glasses, militaryplaques, prayer carpets, souvenirs fromMecca, diaries or testaments, and in somecases artistic work. The display cases are renewed regularly.4 The museum hasbranches, such as one at the Behesht-e Zahra Cemetery.
Photos, like the other personal objects kept in the museum, come from thefamilies who donated them after the war in response to requests from publicorganizations. These same photo portraits can be seen in the martyr cemeteries.They are placed among other objects inside the display cases, the smaller onesbeing placed on top of the tombs [Figure 2]. They are also found in the privatespace of martyrs’ families, and some of the photos have been used as modelsfor public murals.
Photographs used in representations of the dead are I.D. photos where thefuture martyr is represented during his lifetime as a civilian or at the front. Inthese images the notion of ‘‘the living dead’’ or the idea of ‘‘a missing presence’’is found [Debray 1992: 32]. The photos are taken from the shoulders up and are inblack-and-white. The context and the moment at which the person was photo-graphed are not necessarily linked to his status as a future hero. Photographedmartyrs are generally very young, which corresponds to the historical realityof the war. The age category that was most affected was 18–30, which has sincecreated a large generation gap in society.
In order to remain credible among the families and to communicate an ideal tosociety the portrait of the martyr has to be realistic. The photographed identityportrait of the martyr and the feeling of ‘‘reality’’ that it conveys among the
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Figure
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people have found their place in the Iranian public martyr. The feelings of truth,exactness and justice that stand out in this type of representation also allow forsympathy. ‘‘It’s hard to lose such a young child, look at the photo,’’ confidesone mother of a martyr when talking about the photograph of her son [Anquetiland Costes 2007].
The portrait of the martyr as a young, vibrant person inspires a feeling ofstrength and serenity in the face of death. The photo acquires greater emotionalintensity from the actual presence of the image. Pictures from private family col-lections have therefore contributed to the elaboration of the representation of themartyr in public places. They have fashioned distinct characteristics, even if thephotos were not created with an intention to be exposed publicly: ‘‘One does notbecome a martyr in order to have his photo shown everywhere’’ [Anquetil andCostes 2007].
The picture, then, becomes commemorative (the souvenir of approachingdeath) and religious at the same time (adoration of a hero, of a martyr for Islam).From this stems the interaction between popular religion and official religion.The power of the image, based on remembrance of the deceased, ensures theunity of Shiite Islam; individual memory contributes to collective memory.
The photos kept by families are not ‘‘family photos’’ as such because they werenot taken in a family setting but rather in a photo studio, with a photographercreating the man’s portrait. At this time, and to my knowledge, this fact stillholds true that for financial reasons automated photo booths do not exist in Iran.Therefore one does not take one’s own portrait but uses a photographer, whodirects the subject to adopt the most appropriate pose, always respecting codesof public representation.
As mentioned before, the iconography linked to a martyr is rich and complex.Other images, such as the I.D. photo portrait, have led to the making of the
Figure 3 Mural painting. Behesht-e Zahra Cemetery’s museum, south of Tehran, summer 2003.(Color figure available online)
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martyr’s public image. The pictures taken during the conflict, often com-missioned, rarely come from family collections because they belong to the publicdomain from their inception.
In this way several types of representation of martyrs have been developed andthen introduced into society. Among these types there is a form of mural wherethe martyr is depicted full-length and in motion. These paintings have been
Figure 4 Sticker from the Behesht-e Zahra Cemetery’s museum, summer 2003. (Author’s collection;color figure available online)
Figure 5 Billboard in the park of Behesht-e Zahra cemetery, south of Tehran, summer 2003. (Colorfigure available online)
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made working from photos taken by soldiers during the conflict and later byprofessionals (war reporter photographers, most of whom are very well-knowntoday). One famous photo taken during the war has been used numerous timesin posters, murals or postage stamps [Chelkowski and Dabashi 2000: 159,fig. 9.29]. This very photo was the source for a mural found on the facade of theMartyr Museum at the Behesht-e Zahra Cemetery [Figure 3]. The painting, 24meters long and 19 meters high, shows a group of soldiers in action, running withgun in hand, all looking in the same direction. When a photograph is turned into apainting it evolves and tends to be systematically idealized. Here for example theattention of the soldiers is drawn to a point located to the left of the image. Thatinvisible point in the photo materializes in the mural in the form of AyatollahKhomeini the Guide, who seems to be speaking to the soldiers. In the bottom leftof the painting, the logo of the Foundation, a dove drinking from a tulip (whichhas consequently become the symbol for war martyrs), can be seen.
Some shots of martyrs killed on the battlefield—often extremely shocking—alsooccur. They have been the subject of reproductions such as stickers [Figure 4] orpublic signs that can still be seen, as in the Behesht-e Zahra Cemetery [Figure 5].These pictures are not exposed in private places, in the homes of martyrs’ families:they are either kept in family photo albums,5 out of sight, or they have beenbequeathed to the Martyrdom Foundation.
THE IMAGE OF THE MARTYR IN THE SOUTH OF TEHRAN
It is interesting to study the martyrs’ representations seen in Aliabad from photosthat were taken there. Located on the former outskirts of the city, the ancientorchards are now completely within the capital. Major urbanization work inthe 1970s played an important role in this integration. Nowadays Aliabad islocated on the edge of the southwest ring road which leads to two importantreligious centers, the Behesht-e Zahra Cemetery and the Shah Abd-ol-Azim HolySanctuary. In spite of its urban integration and the arrival of the subway systemat the start of the 21st century, this site remains out of reach and little-knownamong other inhabitants of Tehran. This is partly due to its marginal population:those ‘‘left aside’’ from the revolution, the families of those martyred in the Iran–Iraq war. The majority of the population living there either fought in the war orlost one or more loved ones during the conflict. According to a legend circulatingin the area, their number is 72, which makes direct reference to the 72 Hoseynfollowers who were massacred at Karbala so long ago.
In the 1980s the town hall renamed the streets through a ‘‘Street-NamingCommittee.’’ Most are now named after known martyrs, which intensifies thenotion of a ‘‘city of the dead.’’
This population is mainly made up of Azeris, who come from the northernIranian province of Azerbaijan, having migrated one or two generations ago. ThisTurkish-speaking Shiite community came to Tehran during the period of urbanrebuilding, as laborers. The men enlisted in large numbers from the onset of thewar. The present inhabitants work several jobs in order to make ends meet: ven-dors, taxi drivers, craftsmen, laborers. Their activities are sometimes supplemented
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by a pension given by the state to martyrs’ families. Daily life in Aliabad goes withthe flow of its celebrations for the dead: ceremonies and commemorations,religious celebrations, prayers and visits every Thursday and Friday to theBehesht-e Zahra Cemetery represent daily activities for the inhabitants. Collectiveleisure activities do not exist, and trips to the cemetery are for them the only weeklyouting. A bus from the Martyrdom Foundation transports the families fromAliabad to the Behesht-e Zahra Cemetery.
The first representations of martyrs in Tehran were made on private initiative,introduced to the urban decor by those involved in the revolution. Bit by bit theserepresentations became instruments of the state. The first initiatives in publicspaces took the form of small portraits made with stencils and posted on the out-side walls of houses and in the streets. Some of these representations still remainin Aliabad [Figure 6] but most have disappeared, been erased, or replaced withmurals on the initiative of the town authority.
The house of a martyr may be marked from the outside by a portrait, either inthe form of a simple poster [Figure 7] or painted directly on a wall, and generallyover the entranceway to the house. The portrait painted in Figure 8 was donefrom a photo by a local painter as a favor to the family and also, in a wider sense,to the community. The predominant green color makes reference to the Prophetand symbolizes Islam. The size of the young man is imposing, larger-than-life,and he has the beginnings of a moustache. His steady gaze reaches beyond thespectator, who is unable to penetrate it because it is above that of mortals, soaccentuating the status of the subject as the ideal man.
Accommodation in Aliabad is traditional. Most houses are just one or tworooms with a courtyard. Inside the furniture is often rudimentary: carpets onthe floor, low benches along the walls, a gas stove and a television.
The portrait of the martyr, either painted or photographed, is generallyexhibited for all to see in the living-room, the most public room in the houseand sometimes the only one. The photo portrait or painting of the martyr is raised
Figure 6 Graffiti on a street wall. Aliabad, south of Tehran, winter 2007. (Color figure availableonline)
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on a type of altar. This ‘‘altar’’ is not a specially designed funerary item for exhibit-ing the martyr but rather one of the elements of the inside of a traditional house. Itis a niche or small shelf (taghcheh in Persian) which is placed in the middle of thewall, and is similar to the mantelpiece found in the Western world. However herethe shelf is not placed over anything; above the upper part there is a shallow rec-tangular niche which can either be used for a mural or left empty. In a traditionalIranian home one eats on a tablecloth placed directly on the carpets on the floor.This shelf replaces the functions of a table and is a strategic place in theliving-room where everyday items or souvenirs are placed. Generally this iswhere a wife would put the traditional wedding gifts of a mirror and two candle-sticks. It is this same privileged place among family souvenirs that is naturallyreserved for the portrait of the family’s martyr (or martyrs).
The portrait is accompanied by other more or less related objects, such as dec-orative or everyday items: artificial flowers, the telephone, handkerchiefs, keys,the radio and so on, and other religious objects, such as the Koran or prayer-stones. The Koran and the Martyr Certificate issued by the Martyrdom Foun-dation are nearly inseparable from the portrait, the written document furtherauthenticating the portrait.
Here are two photographs taken in the same private space [Figures 9 and 10],each taken from either side of the mantelpiece. In the first picture [Figure 9] one
Figure 7 Poster in a private entrance. Aliabad, south of Tehran, winter 2007. (Color figure availableonline)
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can see a black-and-white framed portrait of the martyr. A certain numberof images are found around the portrait. On the top, there are three stickersrepresenting color portraits of (from left to right) the Spiritual Guide AyatollahAli Khameneyi, the Ayatollah Khomeini and current President MahmoudAhmadinejad. Three color pictures have been directly inserted onto the portraitof the martyr. The one closest to the martyr, nearly abreast and over his shoulder,again is a portrait of Khomeini. Another photo has been placed underneath, in thelower left-hand corner. It represents the mother in a pious position, head lowered,holding an open Koran in her hands. Finally, in the right-hand corner near thetelephone there is a business card. It belongs to the martyr’s brother, a taxi driver.The way the martyr’s mother has assembled the pictures reveals the aspirationsthat she held. By putting herself in the composition, she projects herself directlyinto the image of the martyr. She has put herself in the portrait, marking her ident-ity, her place in society in relation to the destiny of her deceased son.
The second photo [Figure 10], which shows the right side of the mantelpiece, isoccupied by a radio surrounded by pictures: two Certificates of Martyrdom pre-sented as diplomas, one with the mother’s identity photo and the other with thefather’s. On these official documents the martyr is represented three times,always with the same identity photo. On the certificate where there is a pictureof the mother, to her right, one can see the Martyrdom Foundation logo. Next
Figure 8 Mural painting in a private entrance. Aliabad, south of Tehran, winter 2007. (Colorfigure available online)
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to that, against the wall, there is a small bulletin board with a patchwork ofpictures overlapping each other. From the top to the bottom one can see theProphet, once again Khomeini, and four photos of the family, representing themother (again with the Koran), an identity photo of the sister, and two portraitsof the martyr’s brother.
In this heterogeneous grouping of pictures the martyr takes a central position,remarkable because his portrait, the biggest in size, appears four times, followedby that of Khomeini, who appears three times. The grouping of the pictures wasdefined according to the martyr. There is a vertical hierarchy in the composition,with the people of highest rank being placed in the highest position, the familymembers on the bottom. Khomeini and the martyr appear practically cheek tocheek. Here the members of the family and public figures, both religious andpolitical, mingle. The living and the dead are side-by-side. Through the martyrthe family’s identity becomes engraved in its national identity: private historyis embedded in Iran’s collective history.
This symbolic hierarchy is witnessed inside all the homes of Aliabad, as shownthrough study of another photograph [Figure 11], in which two framed photo-graphic portraits of a father and his martyred son can be seen. The son’s portrait,which should otherwise be placed underneath that of his father, is placed over it.The martyr dominates the father, who is next to a Koran. The portrait of the son
Figure 9 Portraits in a private area. Aliabad, south of Tehran, winter 2007. (Color figure availableonline)
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has been colored and appears on a green background. His first and last names arehandwritten on a piece of paper attached to the frame. This portrait is immedi-ately differentiated from the black-and-white portrait of the father, which issmaller, enclosed in a sober black frame and with no inscription. This compo-sition illustrates changes that have occurred from the 1980s concerning the Ira-nian family unit. This breakdown of the traditional family structure has beenpointed out by Khosrokhavar: ‘‘the time when the symbolic place held by thefather transcending into the heart of the family is irrevocably over’’ [Khosrokha-var 2001–2002: 312–313].
Another example [Figure 12] shows a portrait painted from a photo. Themartyr is represented on an orange-red background, calling to mind blood. Nearhis face one can make out a halo of yellow light, as if to indicate a divine aura.Artificial flowers have been placed on the frame and nearby in vases. Here a cer-tain number of signs point to the martyr as having been in the army [Figure 13]:the military jacket and logo of the Pasdarans Guard of the Islamic RevolutionCorps, founded in 1979. During the war this group was placed under the auth-ority of the Supreme Guide of the Revolution, the Ayatollah Khomeini, a positionnow held by Ayatollah Ali Khameneyi. A large number of particularly youngsoldiers were in this group during the war. In the portrait there is a sticker repre-senting the Prophet’s son-in-law, Imam Ali, who died a martyr in 661 CE, often
Figure 10 Radio and portraits, private area. Aliabad, south of Tehran, winter 2007. (Color figureavailable online)
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depicted holding his saber. Again the image of the Imam is at the same level asthe martyr’s face.
In some private homes in Aliabad with several rooms, one can see differentrepresentations of the same martyr, as in this example. In one, of a martyr’s par-ents, there is a picture [Figure 14] where the martyr appears in a black-and-whitephoto, framed and placed upon a shelf next to a Koran. On the right side of thephoto the martyr is posing with his elder brother (not a martyr), both in militaryjackets. The photo was certainly taken at the front when they enlisted. Here noth-ing differentiates the martyr: both brothers appear at the same level in a similarpose. Only the jackets indicate the war in this classic family picture. This rep-resentation is rather dark in spite of the finely-wrought gold frame which givesthe photograph the allure of a painting.
Another portrait [Figure 15] of the same martyr is located in the living room.Of a more imposing size, it is placed on the television and is a colored paintingrather than a photo. The painting was made from the preceding photo; themartyr is shown wearing the same military jacket. The outline of his body ishighlighted by a luminous line. The entire composition is surrounded by a framepainted black and covered by transparent plastic, on which the martyr’s nameis written and the Pasdarans logo is drawn. Here the portrait suggests agenuine public dimension, accentuated by the television, the public medium ofcommunication.
Figure 11 Photographic portraits of a martyred father and his son, private area. Aliabad, south ofTehran, winter 2007. (Color figure available online)
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In analyzing this corpus of photos one notices the flexible boundaries thatseparate public space from private. One can also see a norm in the religious formof the martyr. The display cases in the cemetery and those in the museum ofmartyrs are the same. They have the same photographs and the same religiousobjects: private representations have adopted practically the same forms aspublic representations. In private spaces, upon mantelpieces in the living room,one finds the same grouping of objects and images. The display cases are lackingand the personal touches are accentuated, but the protagonists represented andthe objects that refer to them are identical.
Nevertheless a certain number of differences do appear in the production ofpublic murals. The types of martyr are much more varied and idealized thanthe miniature portraits found in private spaces. On public murals there is oftena speech written that hails the martyr’s representation. Also the flag of theIslamic Republic is found in great numbers on tombs in the Martyrs’ Cemeteryand represented on public murals, but it is never present in the private sphere.
The private and public representations of three martyrs belonging to the samefamily (which has become the most famous in the area) will now be studied: theirfamily name is Dastvareh. They have become a symbol of the site and a model forall the martyrs of Aliabad.
The three brothers became martyrs successively, dying at the front at 19, 22 and27 years of age. The oldest, Mohammad, was high-ranking, a commander-in-chief.At the entrance to the area, on the facade of a former factory along DastvarehBoulevard (renamed after the family), there is an imposing, vividly colored mural
Figure 12 Painted martyr portrait, in a private area. Aliabad, south of Tehran, winter 2007.(Color figure available online)
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[Figure 16] by a veteran who became a painter for the municipality. This paintingwas commissioned by the ‘‘Tehran City Improvement Service’’ under theresponsibility of the town hall. Inaugurated in 1985 by theMartyrdom Foundation,
Figure 14 Photographic portrait of a martyr and his brother, private area. Aliabad, south ofTehran, winter 2007. (Color figure available online)
Figure 13 Details of a painted martyr portrait, private area. Aliabad, south of Tehran, winter2007. (Color figure available online)
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the painting has since then not been restored. A certain number of objects andpersonal photographs relative to the three Dastvareh brothers have beenbequeathed to the Martyrdom Foundation Museum, where they are exhibited indisplay cases.6
On the public mural the busts of the three brothers wearing everyday clotheshave been painted from photos taken during their civilian life. They overlook abed of tulips. Their first names are written, as well as a famous saying fromthe Supreme Guide Ali Khamenei, ‘‘Each martyr is a flag for the honor and gloryof this nation.’’ A little farther on, the flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran floatsabove three lighted candles on an ornamental background, which brings to mindtraditional ceramic designs [Figure 16]. Here, as in all representations linked tomartyrdom, national identity and classical motifs are intertwined.
In a photo taken in 2003 inside the Dastvarehs’ home while the mother waspresent [Figure 17], one can see a colored mural in the niche over the mantelpiecein the living room, done by a local painter. The three brothers wear militaryjackets and appear on a sky-blue background. On the shelf there are objects simi-lar to those described earlier in private interiors. The parents of the Dastvarehbrothers died in 2006 and their house has been sold. When I returned to visit itin 2007 I saw that the mural had been erased by the new tenants, who wantedto turn this page of history.
Regarding this affair concerning a model family in Aliabad, there would seemto be a sudden end to the representation of a martyr in private spaces after the
Figure 15 Painted martyr portrait with television, private area. Aliabad, south of Tehran, winter2007. (Color figure available online)
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Figure
16Muralpaintingof
themartyrbrothers
Dastvare.Aliabad
entrance,south
ofTehran,winter20
07.(Color
figu
reavailableonline)
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death of their family members. In private spaces the duty of representation of themartyr remains linked to its family origins. When they pass away the represen-tation of the martyr also disappears from the private space.
The presence of the martyr’s image seems to be directly linked to personalfeelings for the departed loved one. Here the martyr’s image as a historical docu-ment linked to collective memory continues to exist, as do the representationsfound in public spaces. In the same manner the image of the martyr in privatespaces does not remain on the wall as a work of art because it is not viewed assuch by the public. It is essentially Westerners who gave the public representa-tions of martyrs their status as art; and they were rapidly classified as ‘‘artisticpropaganda’’ and compared to the representations of revolutionary murals inCuba or Russia. Iranian painters delved into the international visual repertoryin order to represent their martyrs; however most Iranians would not give thesame interpretation to the symbolized representations. For Muslims it wouldbe against their faith to define the private representations as works of art. Theportraits are images; for Westerners they are art but for the inhabitants of Tehranthey hold no artistic value. In the same manner, in the civilian world, theseimages are considered by most people as death images and so not to be con-sidered as art.
The Iranian government has utilized its representations by adopting a moreambiguous position, putting martyrs’ ‘‘works’’ in museums and creating a‘‘Bureau of Art and Literature of the Resistance’’ (Honar va adabiyat-e paydari)within the Ministry of Culture. This exhibition has certainly intensified the
Figure 17 A mother and her martyred sons. Wall painting, private area. Aliabad, south of Tehran,winter 2007. (Color figure available online)
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propagation of public martyr veneration, but it has also put an end to privatelyinitiated representations of martyrs and their originality.
A future absence of representation of martyrs in private Iranian spaces seemsto be presaged here. One can draw a parallel between the disappearance of theimage of the deceased in intimate spaces in Iran and what is happening at thistime in the West since the two World Wars. Bit by bit, war memories becomenothing more than public phenomena. There is a celebration for the war deadonce a year, the glorious history of those fallen is taught in schools, somecommemorations are held in military cemeteries, but the private venerationinexorably fades with the death of the protagonists and their families.
The disappearance of this image in the private Iranian space perhaps signifiesthe changes that have been occurring to Iran’s identity. In the 1980s and 1990smartyrs were a way for the underprivileged classes in Iranian society to becomeintegrated in an area such as Aliabad. As shown through the photos taken there,martyrs’ portraits became symbols of identity. Martyr veneration played a role ofrecognition in society. The political history of the 20th century and these families’contribution to the war through the sacrifice of their children’s lives allowed themto identify with a national feeling and find their place within Iranian society.
Today this identity seems again to be in danger. Indeed the end of the war andthe death of Ayatollah Khomeini mark a significant turning-point in the role andimpact of martyr veneration within modern society. The revolution’s promises ofsocial equality have not been kept. The Azeris from south Tehran and under-privileged classes in general who participated in the conflict have not risen toa higher social status in relation to theirs before the revolution. This class con-tinues to live on the margins of modern society. For younger generations martyrveneration—not as a commemoration but rather as a means of climbing the socialladder—is considered a failure.
As advocated by Machiavelli, ‘‘To govern is to lead others to believe.’’ Are therecent words of President Ahmadinejad, which again encourage the values ofmartyr veneration as a solution to economic problems and a way to preservethe grandeur of the country, still in accordance with the present identity? Whichnew form will today’s dissolved national identity take? For how much longerwill the dead be able to rule over the living7 in Iran?
NOTES
1. Most of these photographs have been made between 2003 and 2007, during the shootingof the documentary film The Faces on the Wall, directed by Bijan Anquetil and PaulCostes. My thanks to Muriel-Jane Ratcliff for translating this article from French; andespecially to Marie-Julie Arnould for her remarks and comments.
2. Centlivres and Centlivres-Demont [2005: 5–15.] A study of the photographic portrait,originally the portrait of the prophet on a postcard in Iran.
3. The website of the Martyrdom Foundation is called Isaar, which means ‘‘self-sacrifice’’in Persian.
4. Anquetil and Costes [2007]: final sequence.5. Anquetil and Costes [2007]: sequence with a martyr mother showing her family photo
album.
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6. Anquetil and Costes [2007]: final sequence with the installation of the display cases inthe museum.
7. Auguste Comte.
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FILMOGRAPHY
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