![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/260324-Maryam-a-conceptual-artist-in-Iran-rs-148838.jpg\")
<\/p>\nMaryam Saeedpoor, a conceptual artist in Tehran, sits on the ledge of a rooftop in a constructed self-portrait. In the portrait, taken in the last few weeks, black smoke billows behind her as her fuchsia headscarf billows in the wind behind her. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A self-portrait of Maryam Saeedpoor, a conceptual artist in Iran.\u00a0 Courtesy Maryam Saeedpoor<\/p>\n
“Just imagine living in a situation where you truly do not know, at any given second while you are going about your life, what will happen to you. Will that missile or bomb fall on youor on another one of your fellow citizens?” she tells NBC News. <\/p>\n
She captures this reality in her artwork, taking vibrant portraits of Iranians against the backdrop of the war consuming the country and region. <\/p>\n
In her pieces, couples embrace, sit on blankets with tea laid out, check phones for updates, all while plumes of smoke reach toward the sky around them. <\/p>\n
“These days, as I walk through Tehran, I keep seeing the wounds in every corner of my city,” Saeedpoor said. “Caf\u00e9s where I had memories, streets where I spent time with friends, my university, places where I worked, shops I used to buy from, and now they are gone.”<\/p>\n
Saeedpoor said that conflicting feelings gripped her and that she was “afraid, angry, hopeful and also hopeless.” <\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/260324-Maryam-artwork-rs-dd8cb3.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
One of Saeedpoor’s pieces. \u00a0 Courtesy Maryam Saeedpoor<\/p>\n
Saeedpoor said she felt “angry at those who started this war, especially at a time when negotiations were taking place between us and the United States.” She also felt angry “at some of my own people who believed that a military attack would bring us freedom,” she added.<\/p>\n
“I have always said: The enemy of our enemy is not necessarily our friend,” she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Maryam Saeedpoor, a conceptual artist in Tehran, sits on the ledge of a rooftop in a constructed self-portrait.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":848099,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5311],"tags":[49,978,659],"class_list":{"0":"post-848098","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-united-states","9":"tag-us","10":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116286735459393704","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=848098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848098\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/848099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=848098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=848098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=848098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}