The creator of Persepolis, the acclaimed graphic novel depicting the childhood of an Iranian girl during and after the 1979 Islamic revolution that was made into an Oscar-nominated movie, has said today’s protesters are “beautiful and inspiring”.
History was repeating itself in the protests sweeping across the country, Marjane Satrapi told the Guardian. “What I have lived, the youth is living now. My hope is that the situation will go towards something beautiful that is called freedom and democracy.
“And the huge difference with my time is the boys were not with us. The beauty now is that there are boys and girls together. So this is what gives me hope as well as feeling extremely sad because of all this violence. There is nothing more beautiful and inspiring than their courage.”
She said that as a result of creating Persepolis, she had been unable to return to the country of her birth and childhood. “I have not been back to Iran in 22 years. It’s a big price to pay. But to risk your life on the streets is a much bigger sacrifice.”
This month, the original book art from Persepolis will be sold to fund Satrapi’s next project. Forty-four sheets will be auctioned online by Sotheby’s in London, with an estimate of £4,000-6,000 each.
Describing the artworks as a “monster in my cupboard”, Satrapi said it was “time to move on”. She took the decision to sell six months ago, “at a time when I could never have imagined it would be in the context of the incredible scenes we’re seeing in Iran today”.
Published in 2000, Persepolis swiftly became an international bestseller, and is considered a modern masterpiece. An autobiographical account of Satrapi’s childhood, it challenged western preconceptions of Iranian history and society, and combined intimate and comical storytelling with social, political and spiritual questions. In 2019, it was listed on the Guardian’s 100 best books of the 21st century.
Sotheby’s contemporary and Middle Eastern art specialist Ashkan Baghestani said: “Persepolis is an undisputed masterpiece, a phenomenon that transcended borders and established comic books as a literary genre in its own right.
“Each of these pages is a tribute to the history of Iran, but also to every child that grew up in times of conflict.”
Satrapi said she had been “completely surprised” at the book’s success. “I thought no one will publish it; I will make 10 copies for my friends. When it was published, I thought, OK, maybe 300 people will buy it. But suddenly it became phenomenal.”
Creating the comic book was the “work of a monk”. “You have to be like a monk who lives in a monastery all alone, and at the same time you have to be extremely obsessional. And I never thought first that I was a monk and second that I was obsessional – and then I discovered, oh yeah, I’m an obsessional monk.”
The images were not illustrations of the text, she said. “You read the images. Image was the first language of humans, remember. They are the most universal thing.”
Satrapi declined to give any details of her next project, saying it was “a work in progress. It’s like a weird animal that grows. I don’t know if it will finish up being a bird or a cow.”
Investors wanted a return on their investment, she said. “I just want to fund my new project myself. To do something that I want to do without being pressured.”
• Persepolis book art will be auctioned on 19-25 October as part of Sotheby’s online 20th century art/Middle East sale. The works will be exhibited in Sotheby’s London galleries from 21 October
• This article was amended on 11 October 2022 to remove a personal detail.
