From headscarves to stadium seats, Crafted Liberation celebrates Iranian Women's resilience in the pursuit of gender equality

Crafted Liberation is an exhibition showing unity and empowerment among women of Iran. With headscarves donated by Iranian women globally, we transform them into stadium seats, telling stories of their struggle against political and societal constraints. This exhibition calls for awareness and solidarity for women in Iran and beyond.

Collective Action to Initiate Change

In the heart of this exhibition lies a profound tale of collective action to ignite transformation. Gender inequality and societal restrictions have long burdened the women of Iran. The tragic case of Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish-Iranian woman, who lost her life in 2022 due to a so-called 'improper headscarf violation' while in Iranian 'moral' police custody, became a rallying cry for justice. In the face of danger and persecution, Iranian women worldwide united in protest.

“To voice for those often silenced, we launched a collective call for action, inviting Iranian women globally to donate their unwanted headscarves for this transformative project. Their contributions led to the creation of the exhibited stadium seats and collectively we transform a traditional symbol of oppression to a beacon of empowerment.”
- Nila Rezaei, Designer, DIA NSW State Deputy Chair

These stadium seats, symbolic of a history of gender-based oppression in Iran, now redefined into a celebration of the resilience and voices of these women. Since 1981, Iranian women have been banned from attending men's sporting events in stadiums, justified by preserving modesty and gender segregation. The grandstand crafted from donated headscarves challenges this unjust tradition and signifies the dawn of a new era of liberation.

Stadium Seats As Objects of Empowerment

We aim to redefine these seats by crafting a grandstand from donated headscarves. It symbolises rejection of deep-rooted oppression and the empowerment of women.

Using a combination of lamination and compression moulding techniques, we created a unique material by combining the donated headscarves with recycled polymers, resembling the materiality traditionally used in stadium seating. The mixed materials are transformed into sheets and formed into bucket seats, through Talon Technology’s 'WasticFibre’ process.

The headscarves donated by Iranian women enable us to create the grandstand, embodying the shift from enforced tradition to empowered liberation. Our vision is to reimagine a future where headscarves are a matter of personal choice, not compulsion, and where every Iranian woman enjoys equal rights and freedoms. 

Collaboration with Innovative Australian Manufacturing Partners

This exhibition was made possible through collaboration with Australian manufacturing partners, Talon Technology and Defy Design. Nila Rezaei, an award-winning designer with a deep commitment to positive societal and environmental impact, played a pivotal role in orchestrating this partnership.

We worked closely with Talon Technology, harnessing their expertise in developing innovative materials and products often involving fibre and composite technologies. Talon’s initiative, 'LPM: Local Plastic Microfactory' aims at making plastic recycling accessible in small communities. Their patented 'WasticFibre' process, which combines waste soft plastic bags with textile to create flexible composite sheets, was instrumental in shaping the iconic bucket seats that now form the heart of our exhibition.

Additionally, our collaboration with Defy Design, specialists in crafting impactful products from recycled plastic waste, provided invaluable insights and access to facilities for early material experimentation. Nila's vision and dedication, combined with the capabilities of these partners, transformed a concept into a tangible reality, allowing us to present the world with "Crafted Liberation," a testament to the power of collaboration, innovation, and artistic expression.

Presented by RK-Collective

RK Collective is a collaboration between Nila Rezaei and Christopher Krainer. Nila, an Iranian-Australian designer, is known for creating products that evoke discourse rather than being an instrument of utility and Chris, an Austrian born product innovator brings in his acumen in product development and project management. Both are driven by the shared belief in design's transformative power and their collective aims to address contemporary environmental, societal and ethical problems.

@crafted_liberation