Iranian artist dedicates London exhibition to his country's 'brave women'

Raoof Haghighi says he aims to 'inspire people and hope they can enjoy seeing my creative process'

Artist Raoof Haghighi. PA

An Iranian artist will dedicate his London exhibition to “all the brave women” fighting for their rights in his country of birth, including Mahsa Amini.

Raoof Haghighi, 46, who has lived in the UK since 2009, is to display some of his “favourite surreal and hyper-realistic portraits and drawings” in mid-April as part of solo exhibition, Painting is Like Breathing for Me.

Haghighi, who was raised in a family of eight artists under authoritarian regime in Shiraz, Iran, and now lives in Reading, said: “Being born in an artistic family was really helpful for my own journey into and relationship with art.

“Obviously I learned so many things from my father and my siblings. It proved to be very useful to have talented and artistic people to provide constructive criticism of my work.

“This proved to be invaluable as I started my own art journey.”

He said that the biggest aim for his exhibit was to “inspire people and hope they can enjoy seeing my creative process”, as well as shining a light on the severely restricted rights of women in Iran.

“I want to dedicate some of the drawings to all the brave women in Iran who are currently fighting for their freedom, and hopefully one day in the near future people can live freely,” Haghighi said.

One of the exhibit’s standout drawings, called Just Take them and Leave me Alone, touched many social media users.

It gathered more than 36,000 likes on Instagram, and more than 2,600 comments on Reddit, as well as being shared 40,000 times on Facebook in 2021.

Mahsa Amini protests in Iran and around the world - in pictures

“I never thought it will touch so many people around the world," Haghighi said about the drawing, which took about five hours to create.

“So when I checked my social media accounts following the release of this drawing, I was very shocked to discover that it had been shared millions of times.”

Another drawing, called Women life freedom, is dedicated to Mahsa Amini, 22, who died last September in police custody after wearing her hijab "improperly".

It shows a woman’s loose hair turning into wings.

Many protests over issues affecting women and girls – such as domestic violence, abortion and strict dress code laws – have taken place after the incident.

Haghighi hopes to “surprise and shock” viewers with his collection.

“I am so delighted that I have the opportunity to showcase a selection of my favourite surreal and hyper-realistic portraits and drawings in my upcoming London solo art exhibition," he said.

“I really enjoy creating an element of shock or surprise to the viewer, and sometimes I even surprise myself when I see the final product.”

The exhibit takes places from April 7-16 from 10am to 9pm at the Osborne Studio Gallery in Belgravia, London.