PaykanArtCar
PaykanArtCar is a non-profit organization and art project, based in the US. It is focused on human rights issues in Iran. The car
The non-profit organization, based in Florida, has purchased a car, now also called the PaykanArtCar, and intends to let different Iranian activist artists work on it as an art project, meant to highlight various political issues and repressed communities in Iran. The car is an Iranian Paykan, gifted in 1974 by Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran to Nicolae Ceaușescu, dictator of Romania. It was bought at an auction in 2021 for €95 000. 2021

The art car was first exhibited in October 2021 at the Oslo Freedom Forum in Miami, held by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF). The first artist to paint the car was Alireza Shojaian, an exiled Iranian. Shojaian, working with an airbrush for the first time, took inspiration from the story of Rostam, a legendary Persian hero, the art of 20th century Iranian artist Hossein Qollar-Aqasi, and connected them to the 2021 murder of the gay Iranian Ali Fazeli Monfared, as well as the executed Iranian wrestler Navid Afkari. Shojaian said

The organization received the Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent from the HRF, who said that the car was "a daring piece of art that advocates for human rights and dignity in Iran." The car has been exhibited in Canada and Brussels, Belgium. It was meant to be shown at AsiaNow, an art fair in Paris, but the invitation was revoked. A representative of AsiaNow stated that

2023

The second installment of the PaykanArtCar was first shown in Oslo, Norway, outside the Oslo Concert Hall, in June 2023. This  installment was created by Simin Keramati, Iranian-Canadian artist. She covered the car with women's hair, with the intent that the art project shall raise awareness of the struggle of Iranian women, as well as pay tribute to the death of Mahsa Amini and the following Mahsa Amini protests. Keramati said

Women's rights activist Masih Alinejad, present at the unveiling, said

People
PaykanArtCar was founded by Mark Wallace, American ambassador to the United Nations 2006–2009, and Hiva Feizi, the organization's executive director. See also
BMW Art Car, another car related art project
LGBT rights in Iran

References

External links

PaykanArtCar: A Driving Force Against Human Rights Abuses Tours Canada, sponsored 2021 article at ARTnews, with pictures
Car Virtual Video, 2022 video by PaykanArtCar
Prize winning car art with a message to Iran, 2022 interview with Hiva Feizi on Radio National
2023 PaykanArtCar Honors the Woman, Life, Freedom Movement in Iran, sponsored 2023 article at ARTnews, with pictures

Non-profit organizations based in Florida
LGBT art in the United States
Human rights activism
LGBT political advocacy groups in Florida
1970s cars
Art vehicles
Human rights in Iran
LGBT rights in Iran
Mahsa Amini protests