The animals that set my mind free
Morad Tahbaz was a conservationist locked up in solitary confinement in Iran. He survived mentally by picturing animals in the cracks of the walls.
Morad Tahbaz was a conservationist working in Iran, when he was arrested on false charges of espionage. He spent most of the first two years in solitary confinement, picturing the shapes of animals in the cracked walls as a way to cope psychologically. When he was eventually given pens and paper, he was able to escape his concrete reality by drawing the wildlife he loved. He writes about his experiences in his book Green Parrots: A Memoir of Survival in Iran's Evin Prison.
(Photo: Morad Tahbaz stands in a field wearing a cream safari style shirt with sunglasses around his neck. He's middle aged with a grey beard and long hair combed back. Credit: Morad Tahbaz)
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Presenter: Mobeen Azhar
Producer: Harry Graham and Emily Naylor
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