Sarbaste
Artist Statement
Sarbaste is a body of work that examines the psychological and social consequences of mandatory military service for young men in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The project reflects on a system that absorbs years of a person’s life at a formative age, redirecting their energy toward obedience and discipline while limiting the space for independent thought and personal development.
In Iranian society, military service is not optional. Unless one continues higher education or qualifies for exemption due to disability, every young man is required to enter this institutional structure. For many, this experience becomes a defining passage into adulthood, shaping behavior, identity, and relationships to authority. Through this collection, I investigate how such systems normalize control and transform individuals into compliant bodies within a rigid hierarchy.
The work is rooted in personal anxiety and observation. Although I have not undergone military service, the inevitability of that possibility has long existed as a source of fear. I witnessed friends and peers return from service with altered perspectives, often exhausted, disoriented, or detached from their previous ambitions. These experiences revealed how prolonged exposure to strict command and surveillance can erode a sense of autonomy and delay the process of becoming an independent individual.
Created during my junior year of undergraduate study and first presented as a solo exhibition of digital works, Sarbaste represents an early articulation of themes that continue to shape my practice today. The project considers obedience, control, and the fragility of personal agency within institutional systems. It also reflects on how collective experiences, particularly those imposed by the state, become embedded in the cultural memory of a society.
The title Sarbaste derives from the Farsi word سربسته, which can be translated as "sealed," "closed," or "kept under restriction." The term carries connotations of containment and limitation, suggesting a condition in which movement, expression, and autonomy are constrained. The title is also a deliberate play on the word سرباز (sarbaz), meaning "soldier," linking the linguistic structure of the term to the lived reality of conscription. In this context, Sarbaste functions both as a linguistic reference and as a conceptual framework for understanding the emotional and social confinement experienced within compulsory military service, and the lasting impact such confinement can have on the formation of identity.
