the essential
This Wednesday morning, the famous statue, located at Place Clément Marot in Cahors, was dressed in underwear to support an Iranian student who attracted the anger of Basij militiamen. The collective Les Racolleuses paid tribute to him, in its own way.
Less than an hour. This is the time during which some passers-by were able to see the statue of the angel of Lazaret wearing curious underwear: panties and a bra placed at 8 a.m. this Wednesday. And a sign: “Ahou Daryaei, you are not alone”, could be read. But by 9 a.m., everything was gone. Even the employees of Biocoop, located next to the statue, saw nothing. A symbolic action now claimed by the feminist collective Les Racolleuses.
Denounce oppression against women
“As we usually do, we want to highlight events of violence against women in France, but also in the rest of the world,” confirms one of the members of this group made up of around thirty people. . The event in question concerns Ahou Daryaei, an Iranian student. On November 2, the young woman was arrested by Basij militiamen because she was not wearing a “maghnaeh” (a veil that covers the head, forehead, chin and chest). As a sign of protest, Ahou decides to undress and wander around the Tehran campus. The image has already gone around the world.
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“This young girl seemed particularly courageous to us. For this, she suffered a completely inappropriate arrest. We wanted to show her that other women were denouncing this oppression against women,” protests La Racolleuse. After her action, Ahou Daryaei was allegedly taken by the intelligence services of the Revolutionary Guards to a psychiatric hospital. In a press release, the Iranian embassy in France ensures that “this student suffered from certain family problems and fragile psychological conditions”. “This is the usual argument for locking up opponents when they have no real reason to do so,” judges the collective for its part.
The angel at the service of freedom
On the side of the association “Les Gardiens de l’Ange” which works to conserve the sculpture, we in any case rather welcomed this action in a positive manner: “I am not outraged from the moment he does not there is no degradation. If the angel of Lazaretto can be used for this kind of cry for freedom, I completely agree,” assumes the president of the association, Manuel Espositio.
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An opinion shared by the author of this statue, Marc Petit: “On the aesthetic level, there would be some discussion,” the sculptor first jokes. “But that becomes secondary to the extent that there is no damage. On the other hand, if my sculpture can serve as a “billboard” for this type of action, I am completely in agreement. That people appropriate sculptures in public spaces, I find that it is a very good thing,” enthuses the artist, with some nuance. “Afterwards, it would bother me if they were used for ideas that I am against, like, for example, the death penalty. » In this specific case, the militant fiber found itself in agreement with the heart of the artist since they both share “the love of freedom”.
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