In September 2023, IDC unveiled a series of digital billboards in Times Square, New York City, to commemorate a year since Jina Mahsa Amini’s death and the Woman, Life, Freedom protests. The billboards feature Jina Mahsa Amini, whose death sparked this revolution a year ago, Nika Shakarami, a 16-year-old protester, Sarina Esmailzadeh, a vlogger who bravely shared about her life in Iran, and Kian Pirfalak, a 9-year-old boy and innocent bystander, against silhouettes of thousands of protesters, representing the brave individuals who have participated in civil disobedience and sustained peaceful protest for over a year. Nicolette Mason oversaw creative direction of this campaign, and drew inspiration from photos and videos of sunrises over Iran, symbolizing a ‘new dawn’ rising.

The copy on the billboard featuring Jina Mahsa Amini is inspired by the epitaph written on her gravestone, which reads, “Jina, darling, you won’t die, your name will become a symbol.”

The billboards featuring Nika, Sarina and Kian include lyrics from fan-favorite songs, including Taylor Swift’s “Karma,” Coldplay’s “A Sky Full of Stars,” and Hozier’s “Nina Cried Power,” all of which inspire the youth in Iran. These songs each also have a connection to the youth depicted in the artwork: videos of Nika Shakarami singing karaoke to Taylor Swift went viral after her death, as did videos of Sarina Esmailzadeh singing Hozier’s “Take me to Church.” For Kian Pirfalak, we were inspired by stories his mother has shared about his love for space and the galaxy, and his dreams of being an astronaut or a great inventor when he grew up.

With this campaign, our hope is to send a reminder that this revolution isn’t over, and that Jina’s legacy, and the legacy of Kurdish women’s liberation movement that inspired the uprising in Iran lives on.

The creative and artwork for this campaign was built upon our globally recognized 2022 campaign, and created by the Iranian Diaspora Collective and anonymous collaborators inside Iran. Funding for this campaign was made possible through the generous support of our GoFundMe donors.