The Whispering of Imagination

Marjan Shaybani

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​We had been buried
Our grave was a big “B”: 
Banned, Banned, Banned

We needed to change our mind
We fought, broke the cage and the boundaries

We fostered a dream
We just thought of freedom, suddenly we felt a breeze in our hair…
We just imagined the sun, rapidly everywhere became bright…

We fought, fought, fought
And cultivated the seed of hope in our chest
And the seed of knowledge in our mind 
You ask about our goals?
They are as nude as our common wounds
We will ruin entire plots,
And take step toward beautiful tomorrow

Although the strangler scarf is still dark, heavy, unbearable…
Although the story is still tearful...
We will continue to imagine what we deserve (The Glimmer)
Until the day you see nothing in my photos but light

Artist Statement

When the art is to have a role in an inquiry, one of the remarkable factors is the imagination. Indeed, through imagination we can portrait what is in our mind regarding a certain topic. My study, however, addresses the role of imagination itself when it is a part of the question. By photography and writing poetry, I have attempted to shed light on the role of imagination in social-justice-oriented movements. What Iranian people went through after the murdering of #MahsaAmini by the morality police, triggered me to show how Iranian women retained their hope to achieve their civilian rights by using their imagination.

Please follow #WomenLifeFreedom, #MahsaAmini for more information about the topic.

Marjan Sheybani

Marjan Sheybani, International student, earned a BA of Persian language and literature from Tehran University of Tehran, Iran; recently moved to Canada for continuing the MEd program in Lakehead university; is known as an amateur poet, used to teach in elementary school in Iran and a private tutor in Russia.