Anahita Babaei

Anahita Babaei is an Iranian-born artist , ocean defender and environmental movement strategist. She became internationally known after taking non-violent, direct action against commercial whaling in Iceland. Her criminal case raised questions far beyond environmental protection to open conversations about conscience, legality and the role of civil ressistance in functioning democracies.

Combining her background in art, science and philosophy, Anahita approaches environmental issues not just as matters of opinion or policy. She is able to weave the plight of whales and environment into stories, visual arts, films and debates in order to reach wider audiences and connecting on an emotional level. 

Her work sits at the intersection of environmental protection, human psychology, and civil changes. Drawing from lived experience growing up under authoritarian rule and later confronting legal consequences inside a democratic state, she examines how societies normalise violence, why people look away, and what allows individuals to act despite risk.

Babaei speaks across universities, environmental and cultural venues, and public forums, combining narrative storytelling with social analysis. Rather than offering activism as identity, she focuses on moral agency: how ordinary people navigate fear, responsibility, and belonging when facing uncomfortable truths and paradoxical narratives. 

Anahita is the co-founder of 2 environmental Organisations based in Iceland with focus on ocean and whale protection. She is a board member of an art collective- Mundus Axis - based in Toronto.