Letter from the Art Association in response to the rulings issued against professors and students

The Art Association reacted to the rulings issued against professors and students and wrote a letter to the Minister of Science.

Following the expulsion of experienced professors from universities, the banning of professors from teaching, the forced retirement and banning of some students from studying due to protests, there were widespread reactions not only among Iranian professors and even clerics, but also Iranian professors abroad to these repressions and waves of pressure. The regime's repressive view of universities, professors and students has become one of the reasons for the migration of elites, students and professors.

Regarding the issues that have arisen, twelve art associations of the Iranian Artists' House have also reacted to the rulings issued against professors and students and written a letter to the Minister of Science, Research and Technology, calling for the elimination of the security environment in universities, an end to violent behavior, the cancellation of all rulings issued against professors and students, and their return to the university.

The full text of the letter is as follows:

With regards:

The Iranian Artists' House, consisting of 12 art associations, considers its main duty and mission to be protecting the rights of the artistic community, and while reiterating its positions regarding the events of the past year in the academic environment, it now calls for its realization at the beginning of the 1402-1403 academic year.

After the follow-up of artistic organizations and the return of the two majors of cinema and sculpture at the University of Art to the 2023 national entrance exam booklet, and on the eve of the new academic year, we seize the opportunity and once again reiterate our demands.

1. Stop the process of firing professors and return them to universities. Art professors are the fruit of a society. Renowned and eminent artists who, in addition to introducing Iranian culture and art to the world, have taken on the difficult task of educating and training students. With limited university facilities and meager income, they have taught with love and given credibility to gray classrooms and worn-out chairs.
2. An art teacher is the product of years of study and research, experience, and artistic life. He is not created overnight with quotas, rents, and orders. There is no substitute for culture and art teachers, and the absence of any one of them is the extinction of a star that deprives the sky of art of its existence. Teachers are the most influential and important members of the artistic community, and protecting their rights is the main mission of artistic organizations.
3. Abolish the sentences of suspension, exile and deprivation of students from education. The art student is creative, brave and questioning. He has come to become the most sensitive member of society, the artist. He has come to work in the most open possible space, art. To question the obvious and rediscover it. To "crack the world open and come up with a new plan". Consciously understand the pain of his society and consider human feelings and emotions as his most important concern. Students are the ones who draw the future and realize the vision of Iranian art. The art community demands the rights of students and considers taking care of its children as its most obvious duty.
4. Creating a safe space for dialogue, criticism, and protest in universities. Universities are the most fundamental institution of a civil society, and art universities are the arena for the maximum emergence of civil liberties. Encouraging freethinking, respecting pluralism, and recognizing diverse opinions, demanding rights, freedom of expression, and the possibility of civil protest are among the obvious requirements of the university environment. What distinguishes a university from other educational centers is not the shape of the building or even the entrance and title inscribed on its facade, but rather a flexible structure that provides the encounter and companionship of professors and students to create opportunities and possibilities for experience and growth in a safe space. Universities are the beacons of the way and guardians of the history of art in this land, and preserving it is the responsibility of all of us.

Respected Minister of Science, Research and Technology, student criticism and protest through dialogue, sit-ins, creation of works of art, music, songs, etc. in the university environment are clear and sublime examples of civil protest that not only do not deserve punishment and reprimand, but also deserve praise and encouragement. Reconsider the way universities are run, because opening a safe space for dialogue is the only way to prevent violence.

We, the member houses and associations of the Iranian Artists' House, earnestly demand the elimination of the security environment in universities, the cessation of violent behavior, the cancellation of all unjust sentences, the lifting of professors' bans and their return to the university, as well as the lifting of all restrictions, bans, and fines against art students.