Priscillia Kounkou-Hoveyda

Cultures of Resistance Awardee — Iran

Priscillia Kounkou-Hoveyda is a human rights jurist, writer, filmmaker and creative director and founder of the Collective for Black Iranians, a creative and critically-conscious initiative proposing an Iranian culture that stands fully at its Black and African intersections. Priscillia’s work with the Collective for Black Iranians is inspired by a childhood spent in Tehran, Isfahan and Shomal, searching for visual representations and narratives that reflected her Black, African and Iranian intersections. The Collective produces original content, ranging from short films to illustrations to photography.

Priscillia received a Cultures of Resistance Award (CoR Award) in 2022 and will use the money to produce more Siyah Zibast pieces, which are visual representations of Black is beautiful within Iranian reality. The project tells the narrative of Siyah bazi, blackface performances in Iranian culture, from the point of view of Black Iranian histories. The award will fund the editing of shorts and illustrations. 

Follow her on Instagram here or read more on her website here.

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