Beyond the Printed Line

In this joint talk, Hanieh Bakhtiari and Cynthia Lam reflect on a recent journey through Iran, where travel and research became entangled with geopolitics and war.

Determined to challenge dominant media portrayals of Iran as dangerous and inhospitable, the speakers set out to document and experience the country’s beauty, vibrancy, and cultural richness, visiting Tehran, Qeshm Island, and Isfahan, where Hanieh was conducting field research on Iran’s print history at the Vank Cathedral Museum. Their journey, however, was violently interrupted by an Israeli military strike on Iranian soil. As missiles lit up the sky above Isfahan and Tehran and airspace shut down, the two were forced to navigate emergency routes to escape the war.

As the speakers reflect on their fleeing the country, they confront the painful dilemma of being able to leave while others must stay and endure. The talk bears witness to the resilience of ordinary Iranians amid uncertainty and fear, and grapples with the emotional weight of departure, displacement, and the politics of proximity. It is a story of beauty interrupted, of solidarity tested, and of the uneasy privilege of survival; of what it means to tell a different story about Iran, and how that story changes when the sky is burning.