Freedom, Glory, Be Our Name

شکوه آزادی با ماست

lt's a silence the lonely know
in the fire the rainbows grows
you can push it down my friend
it will come up ten fold again

we will erase your name, we will show no restraint

how much blood must be shed
on the streets of unrest
we will bleed as long need be
that river will remove you from history

we will erase your name, we will show no restraint

you have robbed us for many years
but we have saved every last tear
we have suffered all of your hate
and now we march down to your gates

we will erase your name, we will show no restraint

Freedom, Glory, Be Our Name
Freedom, Glory, Be Our Name

you think your power is secure
when you startle us with the threat of war
but fear has its limits too
we are no longer scared of you

we will erase your name, we will show no restraint

we will burn your temple to the ground
we will tear all your prisons down
your gallows will be set for burning
just before one last hanging

we will erase your name, we will show no restraint

Freedom, Glory, Be Our Name
Freedom, Glory, Be Our Name

now we give you one last chance
to do what's right and to let us dance
or the hand of fate will become a fist
a force your thugs can not resist

The fields where soldiers practice their killing
can be a spread of green grass
where the boisterous rainbow children may dance
while the one who beams with
ultimate command
will merely be a smile (Written by Shamlou)

>> Freedom Glory Project

Fluorescent Monsters

Bortusk Leer's fluorescent naive monsters in the East End of London.

Boycotting Nokia

Consumers are calling for a boycott of Nokia-Siemens for selling to Iran.

>> View and download larger image

Felt Memories

Last week I went to Bita Ghezelayagh’s first solo exhibition in London. It featured a collection of felt capes. She treats her felt capes as canvasses on which she expresses her memories of growing up in Iran. She was brought up in Tehran where she lived through the Iranian revolution of 1979 and Iran-Iraq war (1980-88). She is heavily influenced by post-revolutionary visual popular culture.

A thousand and one metal keys, crowns, tulips and images of a renowned Iran-Iraq war hero printed onto metal tags are sewn onto the garments. She combines these with Iranian slogans – such as "Martyrdom is the Key to Paradise".

Bita Ghezelayagh says: "making my first designs, and travelling around Iran searching for the best techniques, I came across a display of felt shepherds’ capes in a provincial bazaar. They hung inertly, heavily, a reminder of earthy tradition amid the gaudy consumer goods, and were a poignant validation of Joseph Beuys’ elevation of felt into art."

ET look-alike 2

I found this ET look-alike in Hampstead Heath.

>> Here is another one in Gower Street

Candlelight vigil

Twitter and Iran

I am eagerly following #iranelection twitter topic. It seems that Twitter is the best place for up-to-date information (and rumours) on Iran. There are new tweets every second, many from people inside Iran, posting continual updates with their mobile phones. It is really quite amazing how fast news is spreading. News of violence and unrest are being published seconds after they occur for the world to see.

Here is a small Twitter list from Iran which have a constant stream of updates and links to photos and videos:
http://twitter.com/persiankiwi
http://twitter.com/madyar
http://twitter.com/iranelections

Winter will end!

Sar oomad zemestoon (Winter comes to an end) an old Iranian revolutionary song.

Today's events in Iran reminds me of the early days of The Iranian Revolution of 1979.

The Son of Man

Max's version of René Magritte's The Son of Man. Max will be 10 in August.

Good or Evil

Good or Evil : an East London graffiti.

>> Click here to view more Street Art in London

Artistic Chicken

Max thought his breaded chicken fillet looked very much like an artist's palate. So we made it even more!

The Headington Shark

The Headington Shark is a 25ft-long fibreglass sculpture representing the body and tail of a large shark, apparently having dived out of the sky to crash through the roof of a Victorian terrace. It situated at 2 New High Street, Headington, Oxford and first appeared in 1986. Bill Heine, a local radio presenter who commissioned it from the sculptor John Buckley, has said "The shark was to express someone feeling totally impotent and ripping a hole in their roof out of a sense of impotence, anger and desperation."