Arghavan

founder

As a singer and author, I have reached out to thousands of women around the world and have found the Internet to be a wonderful tool to communicate and send messages of courage and inspiration.

I am also the founder of Artdom
It is my hope that Artdom will become a powerful force for realizing profound change!

My life experiences have shaped who I am today – leaving my native Iran, moving to Sweden and seeking out and listening to the stories of women who stayed behind in oppressed countries, I am now for the past six years using all the power in my freedom to be their voices in creative ways.

My journey began when I participated in one of the biggest Persian Music competitions in London, "Googoosh Music Academy".
The show was broadcast worldwide by satellite and had around 32 million viewers it also aloud me to reach out to women all around the world.
But the ones that touched my heart the most were the stories about women in Iran.

I realized the importance of hearing and sharing women's voices.

I put down the mic and started to work with creative ways to highlight their stories

I published the book ZAN in 2014 together with nine women in Iran.
ZAN is about how to live like a woman in Iran and despite all the obstacles follow your dreams.

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Im also working with a documentary about girls who want to become singers in Iran but still are forbidden to reach theirs dream because some form of art is still limited in Iran.

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My latest project Artdom is about understanding and bringing awareness to women’s rights as well as women's freedom of expression, mainly through cooperation in the form of art.
By crossing cultural boundaries and building bridges across two countries, Sweden and Iran, the women involved in this project have managed to achieve strong ties and create an amazing level of empowerment.

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Isabelle Andö

co-worker

Isabelle Andö is a freelance violinist since 2012, based in Stockholm. She plays in various genres and constellations and often produces her own concert projects and tours, among others a collaboration with three Indian musicians and Swedish string quartet Kristallkvartetten in 2015, called “India meets Sweden” (newly composed music by Jyotsna Srikanth and with support of Swedish Arts Council and Region/The Norrbotten County Council). She has substituted in orchestras like Gävle Symfoniorkester, Norrbottens Kammarorkester and Nordiska Kammarorkestern.

As a member of Stråkkapellet Isabelle has played and toured with various Swedish artists such as Darin, Mikael Wiehe and Veronica Maggio. Autumn 2018 Isabelle was part of Peter Jöback’s show “Med hjärtat som insats” at Cirkus in Stockholm, and in spring 2019 Jonas Gardell’s show “Queen of F*cking Everything”, also at Cirkus.

Her tango quintet Paso Nuevo is current with the show “La Muerte del Àngel” together with two professional dancers.

In December 2015 Isabelle initiated and produced a charity concert at Stockholm Waterfront called “Under samma himmel” (Under the same sky) by reason of the refugee crisis. All participants worked ideally and the income went to UNHCR. (In collaboration with Waterfront and with Tickster as main sponsor). Arghavan was invited to participate in the concert, and since this first meeting Isabelle and Arghavan have continued working together, but musically and since a few months Isabelle is also involved in ARTDOM’s work.

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Former Goodwill ambassador Swedish National Committee for UN Women

Pablo Picasso