WOMAN LIFE FREEDOM Banner

This collectively made banner features the famous feminist Kurdish slogan “Woman, Life, Freedom,” which became the rallying cry of the recent uprising in Iran, along with 100 solidarity messages. The banner was carried and displayed at Toronto’s International Women’s Day (IWD) rally in March 2023, and later completed by the artist.

Hajar Moradi, an Iranian Canadian artist, designed and created the banner to amplify a collective message, bringing together women’s voices across borders. The English translation of the Kurdish slogan “Jin, Jian, Azadi” (Woman, Life, Freedom) is featured in the centre in raised black letters. Surrounding it are colourful fabric squares displaying messages of support and solidarity in various languages. Volunteers, including Azadeh Pirazimian and Saeedeh Niktab Etaati, assisted the artist in completing the banner.

Moradi made the slogan letters from braided fabric strings, symbolizing women’s hair strands, the cutting of which became a global act of solidarity with Iranian and Kurdish women throughout the 2022–23 uprising in Iran. The 100+ participants in Toronto’s IWD rally wrote their solidarity messages for the banner in different languages, including Farsi, Kurdish, Turkish, Chinese, Hindi, Anishinaabemowin, Spanish, French and English. The Iranian activist group Feminists4Jina carried the banner at Toronto’s IWD rally in March 2023 and at the Alternative Pride March in June 2023.

The banner’s main message seeks to raise awareness about the ongoing struggles faced by Iranian, Kurdish and Afghan women in their tireless pursuit of rights and freedom. The banner also aims to cultivate international allyship by highlighting the shared challenges women encounter worldwide.

The Woman Life Freedom Banner is presently showcased at the Canadian Museum of Human Rights and will remain on exhibit until February 2024.