Under the Radar: Ambient Music and/in the Iranian State

In the last 10 years, a new wave of experimental digital arts and music practices has emerged from Iran: a small scene is now recognised beyond Iranian geopolitical borders and is represented in public venues across the country. The public aspect is crucial as a large portion of the music produced stays underground due to an ongoing tension between the political system’s ideological censorship machine and cultural producers’ practice. Without the system of permit’s approval, any public presentation and/or dissemination of a cultural product is banned by law. In this text, I will investigate how the younger generation of Iranian electronic/ambient music producers have managed to negotiate a space for their practice in the society transforming and/or transcending the inherited conflicts beyond their customary forms into a constructively dynamic dialogue with the system.