Hadi Nasiri
Hadi Nasiri is an Iranian multidisciplinary artist / designer and activist.
Much of his work deals with topics that question today’s political, social, cultural and human rights. He was born and raised in southern Iran in a political family atmosphere, where he practiced politics and religious studies. He launched an underground organization “Afarinesh” at the age of 16 to help students discover the truth about their religion, which was opposite of the Islamic ideology. He started talking about what Islam really says about human rights, specifically women’s rights in schools.
He was arrested shortly after giving a speech titled “Hijab by the Quran” at the school’s library. The arrest experience led him to apply for art college in Shiraz, Iran to look for new potentials for his concerns. After finishing his college he spent two years in forced military service, but he transformed his “forced” experience into an opportunity for some performances and specific research. After his military requirements passed, Hadi went back to the college to continue his studies, but he was kicked out because of the political background.
At the age of 24, he was invited to the Tehran Art University to teach Art Theory and Performance for a semester, but soon afterwards he was asked to leave for the same reason. Before leaving Iran, he received a President’s Award for young entrepreneurs, inventors, and researchers.
Now based in the USA, Hadi is still exploring the relation between religion and contemporary life.He believes peoples’ ties with religion are more sophisticated than a drawn a line, and cannot be considered separately.
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