Hannah Darabi's 'La Révolution par les livres' at Le Bal, Paris

Hannah Darabi's exhibition 'La Révolution par les livres, 1979-1983' at Le Bal in Paris (January 10 to February 11, 2019) deconstructs stereotypes about Iran by presenting Iranian publications from the 1980s. The show, coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution, explores the conflict of representations—how images of the revolution oscillate between familiar revolutionary tropes and distant religious fervor. Darabi mixes found magazines with her own photographs to create a subjective archive of a society grappling with its tragic destiny. The exhibition highlights the brief editorial effervescence following the revolution, before the Iran-Iraq war accelerated Islamization and shifted imagery toward organized sacrifice. It argues that images remain central to Iran's international standing, contrasting the success of Iranian cinema in portraying a relatable society with persistent clichés of armed men and veiled women. The show is not nostalgic but reconstructs the polysemy of this war of images, underscoring that the battle over representation continues.