Project has been paused due to COVID-19! "Abandoned Voices," a 3-years project, is bibliographical research on Iranian women's singers who face fanatic obstacles and discriminations that prohibit them from performing publicly. The initiative is dedicated to documenting women's struggles for equality, restoring a narrative of artistic resistance, and the role of female voices in Iran's culture in the past century.
Discriminatory laws in Iran extend to various aspects of women's lives, including cultural and artistic initiatives. Despite the growing trends of female talents and singers, women have been prohibited from singing in solo performances, and many have been subject to interrogation, defamation, and financial consequences such as unannounced revocation of their permits to perform. To date, no inclusive or sustained effort has been made to showcase the adverse effects of such discriminations.
Our mission is to collect personal accounts of women who have played a dynamic role in transforming Iran's cultural paradigms. It employs creative ways to preserve their legacy through a growing archive of oral history. We will establish a virtual center to document the continuous trend of the restrictions on female artists. We intend to shape an authentic narrative of the experiences of inspiring women artists who have been leading the way with immense resistance against all the odds.
This project is a tribute to the Iranian female artists of the past century and a reference for future generations to recognize the influential role of women's voices in the historical, social, and cultural aspects of their motherland. After the launch of the Museum of Iranian Women's Movement, Mansoureh Shojaee will lead this initiative as part of her efforts in the Documentation Center of Iranian Women's Movement to preserve the legacy of Iranian female singers against erasure over time.
