Conflict Resources - Iran
The ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel, which intensified in June 2025, has had profound impacts on civilians, artists, and cultural heritage in Iran. The following arts-based resources provide support, inspiration, and solidarity for theatre freelancers and artists engaging with the crisis. These include initiatives, exhibitions, podcasts, and reading materials that highlight Iranian artistic responses to conflict, resistance, and resilience.
Resources, networks and campaigns about the ongoing conflict in Iran.
While we do our utmost to be up to date this is work taken on by volunteers and we rely on freelancers to contribute to and expand these sections.
If we are missing resources you feel would be beneficial, please let us know.
Iran Explained - Via The International Crisis Group
The International Crisis Group is an independent organisation working to prevent wars and shape policies that will build a more peaceful world.
Arab Fund for Arts and Culture
The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC) supports artists across the Middle East, including Iran, through grants and programs. Their initiatives fund creative projects addressing conflict, displacement, and cultural resilience, offering opportunities for theatre makers to develop work that responds to the Iran-Israel conflict.
Equity - International Solidarity Committee
Equity, the UK trade union for performers, has actively condemned the persecution of Iranian artists, including theatre actor Hossein Mohammadi and actress Taraneh Alidoosti, who faced arrests for supporting protests. Through its International Committee for Artists Freedom, Equity campaigns against censorship and supports Iranian artists facing repression
Iranian Artists Support Project
The Artistic Freedom Initiative supports Iranian artists facing censorship and persecution, offering resources and advocacy for those affected by conflict and political repression. This project provides legal and professional support to help artists continue their creative work amidst the current crisis, relevant for theatre practitioners seeking to navigate censorship or displacement.
Resistance Through Art
This resource from Avant-Garde Lawyers highlights Iranian artists using visual and performance art to protest oppression and conflict. It includes examples of how artists are responding to recent crises, offering inspiration for theatre freelancers to create politically engaged work in solidarity with Iranian communities.
Saam Theatre Group
Saam Theatre Group is a London-based independent Iranian community arts collective offering transformative theatre workshops and performances. Led by Iranian artists, it creates space for Iranian voices to explore identity, resistance, and cultural heritage. Their work supports theatre freelancers by providing opportunities to collaborate on Iranian-led productions that address political and social themes.
Tamasha – Developing Artists Programme
Tamasha, a UK theatre company championing Global Majority artists since 1989, offers the Developing Artists Programme for emerging and established theatre practitioners. While not exclusively focused on Iranian artists, Tamasha supports those affected by global conflicts, including in the Middle East, through workshops, mentorship, and production opportunities. Their decolonial theatre initiative, SHIFT, provides resources for freelancers to create work inspired by Iranian and other marginalised voices.
Iranian Art from the Sasanians to the Islamic Republic
Epic Iran: 5000 Years of Culture
Song of a Captive Bird
A spellbinding debut novel about the trailblazing poet Forugh Farrokhzhad, who defied Iranian society to find her voice and her destiny
A selection of poems from The Eight Books
Sohrab Sepehri, Bahiyeh Afnan Shahid (translator)
The Heartbeat of Iran
Podcast
New Thinking: East West artistic connections
Podcast
Woman, Life, Freedom: How the Art World Stands in Solidarity with Iran
Podcast
Epic Iran - lost cities and Proust.
Podcast
- Arab Fund for Arts and Culture – AFAC strives to build a flourishing cultural and artistic scene across the Arab region that contributes to establishing open and vibrant societies, where young and seasoned voices engage with each other in the wake of the massive transformations being witnessed by the region.
- Deep concern over multiple arrests of writers, artists, musicians in Iran, related to repression of mass protests - Article
- Films from Iran for Iran - A solidarity fundraising program featuring experimental and non-fiction films by Iranian women artists from 1979 to the present.
- Iran Inside Out Exhibition (Chelsea Art Museum) - This 2009 exhibition at the Chelsea Art Museum showcased Iranian and Iranian-American artists responding to conflict and political unrest.
- Iran Rising: Exhibit of Iranian Protest Art - A 2022 exhibit curated by Iranian-American women artists, showcasing protest art from Iran.
- Iranian Artists React With Outrage, Calling for Solidarity as Protests Over Women’s Rights Spread Globally - "People have no fear—they are desperate for change," said one Iranian artist.
- Modern and Contemporary Art in Iran (Metropolitan Museum of Art) - This resource from the Metropolitan Museum of Art explores modern Iranian art, including works by artists like Shirin Neshat, who address conflict, revolution, and identity.
- Zan, Zendegee, Āzādee: the women at the sharp end of resistance in Iran - Article from Shado
- Tehran, Left Alone: Performance by Armin Mokhtari & Parsa Moslehifard - A poignant dawn performance in Tehran by artists Armin Mokhtari (painting) and Parsa Moslehifard (piano), set against the backdrop of gunfire and explosions during the 2025 Iran-Israel conflict.
- The Many Shades of Iran’s Protest Art - In the four decades since the Islamic Revolution, Iranian artists have used clever tactics and unconventional modes of art-making to display disobedience.