Action 9 | Grad Studio I
This action started when something on the news (or I’d better say something that should have been on the news) got my attention. Two weeks ago, one of Iran’s forests in the north of Iran (Our main green area) was burning in fire for ten straight days. What surprised me was the fact that I did not see any of our major news media and platforms cover this catastrophe and spread any awareness. I had to find out about this from a couple of my friend’s Instagram stories. This was shocking and, at the same time, not shocking as well. The topic of nature, conservation, and environmentalism in Iran has become quite political, especially in the last few years. Our news and media ignore the fact that we are on the brink of a crisis, and consequently, people are being kept in the dark about what actually is going on.
Part I: Do we prioritize nature?
For the first part of the action, I wanted to investigate through our media and news sources to see how much environmental related topics matter to them. So, I went through their news feeds and tried to see even if they had dedicated a section to the environment or not, and if they had, what was the priority of that section in their feed. I also bought a couple of actual newspapers to help me if I wanted to create something more tangible.
When I was going through the newspaper headlines trying to find environmental-related topics, I decided to cut out the headlines of each section and then sorted them according to the number of the page in the newspaper. I wanted to do this to see where did environmental topics fell in this hierarchy.
As I sorted out the headlines, I thought about how we prioritize our news and how do we assign value to the stories around us. How much do we value stories about nature?
Talking about the environment has been under scrutiny for sure. Environmental activism has become a political topic to some extent in many parts of the world. But what happens when we politicize nature? When we don’t allow for nature’s stories to be seen and shared. Does nature even have a voice?
Part of the reason why nature has become so highly political is the fact that nature is inherently unifying. If you bring up any topic here, people divide over it and take sides. But protecting our natural resources is something that can unite people. That’s very powerful. And also very scary for governments.
But can we make this fight political? I honestly don’t think so. If our natural resources have a chance at surviving, we should not make environmentalism a political matter.
Part II: Reconsidering our values?
As I was playing around with my cut-out news headlines, I started changing the hierarchy of them. News about the environment and our natural resources should not be buried at the end, where no one cares to look. We should treat this issue more significantly. People should be more aware of what is happening. Especially in a desert-climate country like Iran, our very few forests and green areas are what make living possible here. Changing our priorities is a must.
For this part of the action, I cut out the main headline and picture of the newspaper I had, which was about corona (don’t get me wrong, this is still an important topic). Then I decided to create my headlines, with the environmental-related stories that I thought deserved to take up larger space.
Forest Fires are a national crisis 
The “forest breathing” plan: Stopping the exploitation of wood in the north of Iran forests
Part III: Data collection & struggles
As I was reflecting on my actions, I decided to look up the data related to forest fires in Iran and try to at least raise my awareness on this subject. Unsurprisingly, it was difficult to find any concrete and accurate data on this topic. I dug dip and went through a couple of databases to get as much information as I could. My idea was to create an infographic that shows the number of forest-fires we have had during the last couple of years. It’s worth mentioning that the infographic I created is probably not an accurate reference to use. I am sure the extent of the problem is worse than what is presented in this data-viz.
For this part, I made a chart showing the 365 days of the year, and I put a green leaf for all the days of the year. Then I replaced that leaf with the outline of one to represent the days in which we had a fire and parts of our forests were destroyed. Then I went on and wrote the details of that fire (when/where/how) in the outlined leaf.
Reflections
1- Is everything inevitably political?
I was thinking a lot about this during this action. Because being born and raised in a country where every aspect of my life is highly politicized, I wanted to stay away from politics in my work. I wanted to keep my creative work a safe space for myself that did not involve political talks. But Is that really possible? When everything around us is inevitably political, is art/design exempt?
2- Why is nature political?
Nature is political in many aspects. During my peer engagement, some aspects of this topic were discussed that I think are worth mentioning briefly here. First of all, it’s the privilege of access to nature. Who has access, and who doesn’t? Also, as Louise mentioned, our wealth and our economies are based on the exploitation of the earth’s resources. But can this remain a political agenda?
3- The importance of awareness:
If no one talks about it, then how can we stop it? This question was repeatedly going on in my head while working on this action. If we are not told about the severity of our environmental crisis, then how can we make sure we combat it? The lack of data revolving around these topics is a significant issue and one that needs to be addressed. How? I am not sure about it. It is obliviously tricky to gather and present correct and accurate data surrounding topics that are considered political.
4- What to do next?
At the end of this action, I felt a bit powerless. I thought there is nothing I could do to help with the situation. Who is going to see these headlines I created? Who is going to pay attention to the staggering number of forest fires we had last year (56 days)? When I created the infographics, I mainly did it to raise awareness for myself and to educated myself on this topic that is being neglected by major news sources. So maybe educating myself is a start?