Art Against Oppression: How Iranian Creatives Defy the IRGC

Under the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)’s repressive regime, freedom of expression is not a right—it is a threat. Music is censored. Films are banned. Women artists are surveilled. Galleries are shuttered. Yet, amid this darkness, a vibrant underground movement of Iranian creatives continues to defy, resist, and inspire.

This article explores how artists—musicians, filmmakers, street painters, writers, dancers, and digital creators—are weaponizing creativity to challenge the IRGC’s control, amplify voices of dissent, and reimagine freedom in the language of resistance.

1. A Nation of Artists Under Watch

Iran has a deep, ancient tradition of artistic brilliance. But since 1979, the Islamic Republic—especially the IRGC—has treated culture not as expression, but as a battleground of ideology.

The IRGC’s Basij paramilitary force, along with its Intelligence branch, monitors and censors:

 • Theater and cinema scripts

 • Social media platforms

 • Art exhibitions and bookstores

 • Music lyrics and music videos

 • Women performers and mixed-gender events

Creative freedom is equated with “Western cultural invasion,” and many artists face charges of “propaganda against the regime,” “immorality,” or “blasphemy.”

2. Street Art: The Walls Speak

From the graffiti-covered alleys of Tehran to murals in exile communities in Berlin, Iranian street artists have turned concrete into a canvas of rebellion.

Themes:

 • Women and life: Hijab resistance, femicide victims, Mahsa Amini’s portrait

 • Political martyrs: Neda Agha-Soltan, Navid Afkari

 • Silenced voices: Broken pens, blacked-out faces, bleeding microphones

Notable figures:

 • Black Hand – Iran’s anonymous Banksy-style artist, known for feminist street stencils.

 • Icy & Sot – Brooklyn-based Iranian brothers who blend skate culture with political art.

IRGC authorities have responded by erasing works within hours, arresting artists, and using CCTV to identify spray-painters.

But for every erased mural, another appears.

3. Music in the Margins

Music is a particularly subversive artform in Iran—especially when created by women or dissenters. The IRGC bans most Western genres and censors lyrics for “moral deviance.”

Yet underground music is booming:

 • Rap and hip-hop critique corruption, police brutality, and clerical hypocrisy.

 • Rock and metal speak of alienation, existentialism, and rebellion.

 • Electronic and experimental genres thrive in secret house parties and online festivals.

Case Study:

 • Toomaj Salehi, a protest rapper, was arrested and tortured by IRGC agents for lyrics supporting the 2022 uprising. His poetry turned into protest anthems.

Despite bans, artists upload tracks on Telegram, YouTube, and SoundCloud—pseudonyms protecting their freedom, sometimes barely.

4. Cinema of Resistance

Iranian filmmakers have long used allegory and metaphor to circumvent censorship—but a new generation is done with subtlety.

Documentaries smuggled out of Iran have exposed:

 • State violence during the 2009 Green Movement

 • Torture of political prisoners

 • Gender apartheid under the morality police

Filmmakers at Risk:

 • Jafar Panahi has been repeatedly imprisoned, banned from filmmaking, yet continues to direct underground films.

 • Mohammad Rasoulof, director of There Is No Evil, has faced bans, house arrest, and international exile.

Many filmmakers now operate from outside Iran, building diaspora cinema movements in France, Canada, and the U.S.—screening banned films, mentoring exiled talent, and creating spaces for global solidarity.

5. The Digital Front: Creatives Online

Instagram, Telegram, and Twitter are not just platforms—they are galleries, concert halls, and protest stages.

Digital illustrators create viral feminist comics.

TikTokers perform banned dances in private homes.

Designers sell political NFTs to fund resistance campaigns.

The IRGC’s cyber units try to suppress this flow through:

 • Arrests based on IP traces

 • Platform shutdowns and throttling

 • Propaganda bots to drown real voices

But artists adapt—using VPNs, blockchain, and encrypted networks to remain visible.

“Censorship is just another brushstroke we learn to paint around,” said Sara, an exiled digital animator from Isfahan.

6. Women at the Forefront

Women artists carry double burdens—gender discrimination and political surveillance.

They resist through:

 • Photography: Capturing unveiled protests, bloodied streets, defiant glances.

 • Literature: Writing from prison cells and refugee shelters.

 • Performance: Dances in graveyards, recitations in hijab-burning ceremonies.

“Every time a woman sings, paints, or dances—she breaks the IRGC’s control,” noted Ladan, a theater director now in exile.

From Narges Mohammadi’s prison writings to Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, women have become global symbols of creative resistance.

7. The Art of Exile

Exiled Iranian artists are building a transnational front—curating exhibits, launching podcasts, hosting festivals.

Notable efforts:

 • “Woman, Life, Freedom” exhibitions in Paris and LA

 • Diaspora concerts by banned musicians like Googoosh and Shahin Najafi

 • Virtual galleries showcasing detained or disappeared artists

Art bridges movements—connecting protestors in Tehran with students in Toronto, Berlin, and Sydney.

In exile, art does what politics often cannot: heal, remember, and unify.

8. Repression with a Price

The IRGC doesn’t just silence artists—it uses them.

It funds regime-friendly film festivals, pays propagandist influencers, and co-opts pop stars who promote “Islamic values.” Many are coerced—others complicit.

In contrast, brave artists pay dearly:

 • Dozens detained since 2022 for protest-linked art

 • Studios raided, laptops seized, instruments smashed

 • Art students expelled, galleries closed

Yet, the art never stops. In fact, under pressure, it grows bolder.

9. Global Support: What Allies Can Do

Supporting Iranian creatives means more than admiration—it means action:

 • Host exiled artists in residencies and festivals

 • Fund underground creators via diaspora organizations

 • Protect free expression through asylum programs

 • Platform censored works in international media

Art against oppression is not just Iranian—it’s global.

Conclusion

In the IRGC’s Iran, to create is to resist. A paintbrush becomes a weapon. A dance becomes a defiance. A song becomes a scream.

And the regime knows this—because every mural, lyric, and film is a threat not just to power, but to fear itself.