Gianluca Costantini · Iran
Woman, Life, Freedom
When Drawings Become Protest
The project
Drawing alongside
a movement
A portrait can hold a name in public view. A drawing can cross a border, become a poster and join a demonstration.
On 18 September 2022, Gianluca Costantini drew his first portrait of Mahsa Amini. In the weeks that followed, he responded to the women-led protests in Iran with new drawings, following the movement day by day.
This selection brings together portraits and images of resistance created around the words Woman, Life, Freedom. Faces, hair, voices and gestures form a visual record of solidarity with those demanding freedom.
Drawing in solidarity
The project began with portraits and daily drawings responding to the women-led uprising in Iran. Drawing became a way to bear witness and stand alongside those demanding freedom.
Interview · 8 October 2022
How the drawings began
Gianluca Costantini in conversation with Ahmad Rafat for Kayhan London.
Costantini recalled hearing about Mahsa Amini from a Kurdish friend and using the colours of the Iraqi Kurdistan flag in his first portrait. He described following the uprising through social media and drawing daily in response to the news.
The interview also placed this work within his longer engagement with Iran, including drawings about the 2009 Green Movement and imprisoned activists and artists.
Faces of Woman, Life, Freedom
Individual faces are at the centre of this work. Each portrait gives a name a place beyond the passing news cycle, inviting viewers to look, remember and learn more.
Lives to Remember, Voices to Defend
Portraits remember men killed in the repression of protests and in executions by the Iranian authorities. The wider collection also brings together appeals for freedom and stories of imprisonment, loss and solidarity.
Images of resistance
A voice becomes a revolution. Hair becomes a flag. These drawings turn gestures associated with the uprising into images that can be shared, printed and carried.
Drawings of resistance
A voice, a gesture, a revolution
From the screen to the street
The images moved beyond the screen and into public space, becoming protest placards and a mural in Rome.
Drawings
across cities
In his November 2022 collection, Costantini recorded their presence in Berlin, Bologna, London, Rome, Vancouver, Paris and Los Angeles. The collection invited supporters to print the drawings and take them into the streets.
Kayhan London’s October report documented their use on protest placards and described a drawing reproduced by another artist as a mural in Rome. Its accompanying photographs showed the work at demonstrations in Canada and Italy.
Exhibition · 2022Iran Rising — Iran Protest Art Exhibit
Public action · 2022Corriere della Sera’s rally for Iranian women
Bologna · 2022Freedom for Iranian women in Piazza Maggiore
Bergamo · 2022Freedom for women in Iran — Bergamo
Public art · 2023Woman, Life, Freedom — Public Art Intervention
Paris · 2023Femme, Vie, Liberté — Paris
Photo archive · 2022 · 44 photographs
Carried by protesters
Printed, held high and shared across cities: the drawings become part of the protests.
Amsterdam · Athens · Bergamo · Bologna · Cologne · Dallas · Denver · Freiburg · Kalar · London · Los Angeles · Milan · Ottawa · Paris · Ravenna · Tallin · Tokyo · Toronto · Vancouver
Paris, France, 2022
Public action · Venice Film Festival · 2023
Jane Campion
stands with Iran
A drawing reaches the red carpet in support of Woman, Life, Freedom.
At the 2023 Venice Film Festival, Jane Campion joined Damien Chazelle, Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Guy Nattiv and around one hundred filmmakers, artists and pro-democracy activists in a flash mob supporting the protests in Iran.
Campion carried Costantini’s drawing with the message “A free Iran also means a free world”. The action brought the movement’s call for freedom to an international cinema audience, ahead of the gala screening of Maestro.
Read the story ↗Exhibitions in solidarity
The drawings enter museums, galleries and shared spaces, connecting remembrance with public solidarity. Exhibitions and performances carry the voices of Woman, Life, Freedom across borders.
Exhibition · Lecce · December 2022
The Massacre
of Flowers
Drawings for Iran in the public spaces of Lecce.
Taking its title from verses by Iranian poet Forugh Farrokhzad, the exhibition brought Costantini’s portraits to the exterior of the Castromediano Museum, where they could be seen around the clock.
Organised by the Polo biblio-museale di Lecce in collaboration with the City of Lecce, the project extended to Palazzo Carafa, the city hall, where a portrait of Mahsa Amini was displayed on the mayor’s balcony. Faces, names and stories became a public invitation to remember and stand in solidarity.
Explore the exhibition ↗
Brindisi · 2023The Massacre of Flowers at the Francesco Ribezzo Archaeological Museum
Canosa di Puglia · 2023The Massacre of Flowers at the Regional Library of Canosa
Molfetta · 2023The Massacre of Flowers in Molfetta
Ruvo di Puglia · 2023The Massacre of Flowers at the Museum of the Book
Performance · Bologna · 4 February 2023
In the Name
of Them
A performative event in memory of the Iranian girls and boys who lost their lives defending freedom.
Held in the Aula Magna of the Academy of Fine Arts of Bologna, In the Name of Them brought remembrance into a shared space through performance.
On 4 February 2023, the event ran from 7 to 11 pm, with performances repeated every thirty minutes. The original post documents the evening through photographs by Lisa Mignemi and Luca Finotello.
Explore the performance ↗Exhibitions · 2023
Art across borders
Virtual exhibition · 2023Future Art Awards: Woman. Life. Freedom.
Portland State University · 2023Woman, Life, Freedom and Protest Art
Fondazione Sozzani, Milan · 2023Radical Voice: Woman, Life, Freedom
Benefit exhibition & event · 2023Circus Respiro: Art and Music for Iranian Women
Tallinn University · 2023Art in Protest: Woman, Life, Freedom
RE-SPECT: Wearing a message of freedom
Drawings become wearable messages in support of Iranian women through the collection created with Regenesi.
Fashion & solidarity · Regenesi × Gianluca Costantini
From drawing to clothing
Drawings become wearable messages in support of Iranian women.
Created with Regenesi, the RE-SPECT T-shirt collection brought Costantini’s images into fashion, from its presentation in 2023 to the Cervia runway and La Tenda in Milan.
Conversations and publications
Interviews, public talks and publications open new conversations about the drawings, the uprising and the struggle for rights in Iran.
Video interview
In the studio with Iran International
Video · Iran International · 2022
Public talks · 2023
Talking about Iran, together
Publications & Recognition
The project in publications and public debate
Publication · 2022Voices from Iran: The Girls’ Revolution
Public debate · 2022Human Rights Through Comics: A Conversation with Gianluca Costantini
Publication · 2022The Iranian Women’s Uprising Concerns Us All
Corriere della Sera · 2022Portraits of the Iranian Protests in Corriere della Sera
Book · 2023Love Harder by Barbara Stefanelli
Book · 2026The Tehraner: Portraying Iran Beyond Stereotypes
2022—Today · Project timeline
An evolving act of solidarity
The first portraits
Drawings of Mahsa Amini and the women of the uprising give faces to the call for Woman, Life, Freedom.
Into the streets
A printable collection, public demonstrations and The Massacre of Flowers carry the drawings beyond the screen.
Across borders
Exhibitions, public talks and Jane Campion’s gesture at Venice connect the drawings with new audiences.
New forms of solidarity
The RE-SPECT presentation in Milan and new portraits extend the project through fashion, testimony and appeals for freedom.
Keeping attention alive
New portraits and stories continue to document lives, imprisonment and the struggle for rights in Iran.
Exhibitions · Actions · Publications
A movement for freedom
travelling across borders
Exhibitions
Public actions
Publications & debate
Keep their faces visible
Print them.
Publish them.
Carry their names
These drawings are made to circulate. Bring them into exhibitions, publications and public actions in solidarity with Woman, Life, Freedom and the struggle for human rights in Iran. Preserve the name and story of each person portrayed and credit Gianluca Costantini / ChannelDraw.
News
From Evin with Love: The Art of Iranian Women Prisoners on Display in Munich
From September 18 to 27, 2026, Einstein Kultur presents more than sixty works created by women imprisoned in Evin Prison. A drawing by Gianluca Costantini is featured in an installation within the exhibition.
Read the article ↗