High-profile protest action by Care Revolution Bielefeld against the Mullah regime in Iran

Care Revolution Bielefeld has succeeded in organising a highly visible solidarity campaign with the struggling people, especially women, in Iran and with the struggles of the Kurds in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. The Westfalen-Blatt reported on this in detail on 18.12.22. This report is reproduced verbatim below.

"Political slogan on public art

Bielefeld - Jin Jiyan Azadi - Woman, Life, Freedom. A banner with this political slogan has been stuck to the Richard Serra sculpture Axis, which stands in front of the Bielefeld Kunsthalle, since Sunday. The initiative behind the action is Care Revolution, which wants to send a signal of solidarity with the fighters in Iran and Kurdistan. By Kerstin Sewöster

The slogan is written on the banner in Kurdish. In Persian, Zan Zendegi, Azadi - women, life, freedom - has also been resounding for months on the streets of Iran, where thousands have been protesting against the mullah regime. The 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, whose death after arrest by the Iranian morality police triggered the wave of protests in Iran, was Kurdish.

The initiators of Care Revolution emphasise that Serra's artwork was not damaged by the action, but that it was deliberately chosen. 'Just like Serra's "Axis", we understand this action as art in public space,' they say in their letter. The management of the Kunsthalle has not yet commented on the incident. The Bielefeld police have not yet received a report on the matter.

Care Revolution sees itself as a network that, in its own words, 'fights against gaps in public services' and strives for 'new models of care relationships and a care economy'. The group was founded in Bielefeld in 2015, one of 80 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, according to the organisation.

The initiators write about the action: 'On the one hand, we want to express our solidarity with the struggles of people in Iran, especially women, against the repressive, misogynistic regime of the mullahs. On the other hand, we also want to demand this fundamental solidarity for the struggles of Kurds in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey."