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| - Fact Check: No, Iranian women didn't hoist flag made of chopped hair, viral pic is a 2014 artwork
A photo of a flag, allegedly made by Iranian women using their chopped locks, was widely shared on social media. AFWA found that this flag is a 2014 work of art created by Belgian visual artist Edith Dekyndt and is not related to the ongoing anti-government protests in Iran.
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India Today Fact Check
This is a 2014 work of art by Belgian visual artist Edith Dekyndt. It is not related to the ongoing protests in Iran.
In Iran, women have been shunning headscarves and cutting their hair to protest religious orthodoxy and the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died after Iran’s morality police detained her for violating dress codes. As outrage against the death raged on, both online and offline, a photo of a flag was widely shared on social media.
This peculiar flag was allegedly made by Iranian women using their chopped locks, as part of this protest. The archived versions of similar posts can be seen here and here.
AFWA found that this flag is a 2014 work of art created by Belgian visual artist Edith Dekyndt and is not related to the ongoing anti-government protests in Iran.
AFWA Probe
Among many, Canada-based filmmaker Leena Manimekali shared the photo of the flag, claiming it to be from Iran. Manimekalai, back in July, courted controversy when she shared the poster for her film “Kaali” that showed the filmmaker dressed as Kaali, blue paint covering her body, taking a drag from a cigarette.
The filmmaker later followed up on her claim about the flag in a subsequent tweet, stating it was an artwork created by Edith Dekyndt.
We searched for the artist online and found her website. In a catalogue of the Belgian artist’s works on the website, we found the flag. The photo description said it was part of Dekyndt's 2014 video installation titled "Ombre indigène" (Indigenous Shadow). “A flag made of hair was stuck in the ground and filmed on top of rocks on the Diamant coast, in Martinique,” it added.
A video of the installation available on the website of Dekyndt can be seen below.
We also found an interview where Dekyndt said "Ombre indigène" symbolised the colonial past of Martinique, a Caribbean island that’s an overseas region of France. According to the interview, on April 8, 1830, an illegal slave ship carrying around a hundred African captives ran aground on the spot where she installed the flag.
It is hence clear that the photo in circulation is a 2014 artwork that is unrelated to the ongoing protests in Iran.
(With inputs from Yash Mittal)
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