MOP CAP 2013 Shortlist Exhibition

M 2 O13 M C A P H O S S E I N I F F T A G H I O F F Y D O H A N A E I I Z Z O E S F S U F E A N N A I D J A B B A R I N Z I J D A G M A Z I N A N N I K B A K H T O I R A H Y A A D O MA H ROUM I R I Z I F A R A J I A N

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M 2 O13 C A P

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Magic of Persia Contemporary Art Prize Shortlist Exhibition 2013 18-23 March / Dubai, UAE

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Exhibition Programme MOP CAP 2013 Shortlist Exhibition EFT (Emirates Financial Towers), Dubai, UAE 18-23 March 12:00–20:00 MONDAY 18 MARCH 16:30–18:00 ‘What Does Art Do: The Production of Knowledge in a Cultural Globalised Economy’ Panel discussion moderated by Dr. Anthony Downey 18:00–20:00 Opening Reception and Private Preview in the presence of HE Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, UAE 19:00 Announcement of MOP CAP 2013 Finalists

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Magic of Persia Magic of Persia (MOP) promotes Iranian art and culture to a wider audience outside of Iran, and strives to make a notable contribution to its long-term advancement worldwide.

This is accomplished by establishing programmes in modern and contemporary Iranian art, music, media and academia in partnership with world-class institutions.

MOP’s programmes include: • The Magic of Persia Contemporary Art Prize (MOP CAP); a global search for the next generation of Iranian visual artists • Family days bringing together more than 120,000 people at the British Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum in London • Art residencies and exhibitions for young Iranian artists at the Delfina Foundation, Gasworks and Saatchi Gallery in London • Scholarships and grants in higher education at the Royal College of Art, London Film School, and Goldsmiths University in London • A series of artists’ panel discussions entitled ‘Different Perspectives on Modern and Contemporary Iranian Art’ in collaboration with the British Museum The charity’s primary source of funding derives from the auction of artwork generously donated by established and emerging Iranian artists. Conducted

by Christie’s, and held in Europe and the Middle East, the success of these fundraising events relies entirely on the participation and support of artists and patrons alike. Sponsorship from organisations and individuals also support MOP’s various projects.

MOP is a non-political, non-religious, UK registered charity (no. 1104066) established in 2004.

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Magic of Persia Contemporary Art Prize THE VISION The bi-annual Magic of Persia Contemporary Art Prize (MOP CAP) is a worldwide search for the next generation of contemporary Iranian visual artists who have the potential to make a significant impact in their field. The goal of the prize is to provide an opportunity for emerging artists to gain international exposure, and to engage in artistic experimentation and cultural exchange. Through its archival material, including an online artist database and printed publications, MOP CAP aims to provide an educational interchange and contribute to the development of Iranian art and culture.

THE PROCESS MOP CAP is open to young, emerging Iranian visual artists, living in and outside of Iran, through an online application. The profiles of all eligible entrants to the open call are reviewed by the MOP CAP Selection Committee and a shortlist of up to 21 artists is compiled.

The MOP CAP Shortlist Exhibition in Dubai showcases works of the selected artists, at which time the Judging Panel meet to deliberate on and choose up to seven Finalists. Subsequently, an exhibition of the Finalists’ work is held in London, where the Judging Panel meet once again to select the MOP CAP Winner.

THE PRIZE The MOP CAP Winner receives a one-year mentorship with a London-based curator resulting in a solo exhibition at a leading gallery space in London, as well as a three-month residency at the Delfina Foundation.

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WHAT DOES ART DO: PRODUCTION OF KNOWLEDGE IN A GLOBLISED CULTURAL ECONOMY

Panel discussion moderated by Dr. Anthony Downey Monday 18 March EFT, Dubai In recent years we have seen the emergence of an institutional and curatorial demand that calls upon artists across the Middle East and North Africa to represent social change and revolutionary conflict in the region for global consumption. This panel, led by Dr. Anthony Downey, will discuss how artistic production is also subjected to the demands of new media and art journalism. The panelists will explore how cultural practices capitalise on and negotiate these very demands and, in turn, question institutional and curatorial priorities.

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Zeina Arida, Director, Arab Image Foundation Zeina Arida was born in Beirut and was educated between Beirut and Paris.

She studied Literature and Theatre at the Sorbonne in Paris and graduated in 1993.

Returning to Beirut, she was involved in several cultural projects.

She is a member and the Director of the Arab Image Foundation since its inception in 1997 – a non-profit organisation established in Beirut in 1997 to preserve and study photographs from the Middle East, North Africa and the Arab diaspora.

Arida has also served as a Board Member of the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture from 2006 to 2011.

Negar Azimi, writer and Senior Editor of Bidoun Projects Negar Azimi is Senior Editor of Bidoun Projects, an award-winning not-for-profit publishing, curatorial, and educational initiative. Her writing has appeared in Artforum, Frieze, Harper’s, The Nation, Parkett, and The New York Times Magazine among other venues. She studied international relations and politics at Stanford and Harvard, and anthropology at Columbia University. She is a member of the Beirut-based Arab Image Foundation and a board member of Artists’ Space in New York City.

Dr. Anthony Downey, Director of the Masters Programme in Contemporary Art at Sotheby’s Institute of Art (moderator) See page #10 for biography Michael Rakowitz, Artist and Associate Professor at Northwestern University, Chicago Michael Rakowitz‘s practice is characterised by his symbolic interventions of social and political situations. He bridges various narratives and geographies, working with different media. Rakowitz’s work has appeared in venues worldwide including Documenta 13, PS1, MoMA, MassMOCA, Castello di Rivoli, the 10th Istanbul Biennial, Sharjah Biennial 8, Tirana Biennale, National Design Triennial at the Cooper Hewitt, and Transmediale 05. He has had solo exhibitions at Lombard-Fried Projects in New York, Alberto Peola Arte Contemporanea in Torino, and Stadtturgmgalerie/ Kunstraum Innsbruck. His public project, Return, was presented by Creative Time in New York.

He is the recipient of the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation award, 2012, the Sharjah Biennial Jury Award, a 2006 New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship Grant in Architecture and Environmental Structures, the 2003 Dena Foundations Award, and the 2002 Design 21 Grand Prix from UNESCO. Payam Sharifi, Co-Founder of Slavs and Tatars See page #11 for biography

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Selection Committee Fereshteh Daftari Fereshteh Daftari is a curator and scholar based in New York focusing on Middle Eastern, and particularly Iranian, modern and contemporary art.

From 1988 to 2009 Daftari worked at the Museum of Modern Art where she helped Kirk Varnedoe and Robert Storr organize major retrospectives, such as Cy Twombly and Chuck Close; as well as exhibiting works by artists such as Shirin Neshat and Y.Z. Kami as part of MoMA’s prestigious Projects series.

Media Farzin Media Farzin is a New York-based critic and PhD candidate in art history at the City University of New York. She received her BFA in Painting from Tehran University and MA in Curatorial Studies from Columbia University. She is the author of numerous monographic essays on artists, and a regular contributor to Bidoun and Art-Agenda. She is a lecturer at the City College of New York, and instructor at the Museum of Modern Art. Hamid Severi Hamid Severi is an art historian and curator based in Tehran. He has taught theoretical courses at universities and private institutions and has acted as the educational deputy at The Art and Architecture Faculty of Azad University in Tehran and as the head of the research centre of the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art. Severi has curated many photography and video art exhibitions and has directed many conferences. He contributes to many magazines and is currently on the editorial board of Art Tomorrow Magazine.

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Selection Committee Shortlist deliberation, October 4-6 2012

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Judging Panel Dr. Anthony Downey Programme Director, MA Contemporary Art, Sotheby’s Institute, London Dr. Anthony Downey holds a Ph.D from Goldsmiths College. He is the Editor of Ibraaz (www.ibraaz.org), a research forum for visual culture in the Middle East and North Africa. He also sits on the Editorial Board of Third Text and is a Consulting Editor for Open Space (Vienna). He is a member of Advisory Board for the Kamel Lazaar Foundation; a trustee of the Maryam and Edward Eisler Foundation; and sits on the Advisory Board of Counterpoints Arts, a forum on migration and the arts. As part of the 54th Venice Bienniale, he co-edited the catalogue for The Future of a Promise (with Lina Lazaar), and has contributed essays to publications such as Art and Patronage in the Near and Middle East (2010); Giorgio Agamben: Legal, Political and Philosophical Potentialities (forthcoming, 2013); Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art: A Sourcebook of Artist’s Writings (revised edition, 2012).

Philippa Adams Senior Director of the Saatchi Gallery, London Philippa Adams works directly on the collection, liaising with artists and galleries on new acquisitions and commissions. Since 1998 she has worked on the Saatchi exhibitions and accompanying publications drawn from the collection, many of which have travelled to major museums and institutions worldwide.

Dr. Ziba Ardalan Founder, Director and Curator of Parasol unit, London A graduate in the History of Arts from Columbia University, New York, Ardalan worked as Guest-Curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York and went on to become the first Director/Curator of the city’s Swiss Institute.

Before moving to London and founding Parasol unit, Ardalan was based in Zurich, Switzerland, where she lectured on art and worked as an Art Advisor. Ardalan has curated numerous contemporary art exhibitions, about thirty of which have been at Parasol unit. Prior to a career in art, Ardalan obtained a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry.

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Mat Collishaw Artist Over the past decade, Mat Collishaw’s work has been exhibited in numerous solo shows around the world, including Camden Arts Centre, London (1995); Life/Live, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville, Paris and The Brooklyn Museum, New York (1998); Museum of Contemporary Art, Warsaw (2000); Hysteria, Freud Museum, London (2009); Retrospectre, BFI Southbank, London (2010); Creation Condemned at Blain|Southern London (2010); and Vitacide, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York (2012). Other Criteria and Thames & Hudson have published books with Collishaw’s work, and in 2010 the Victoria & Albert Museum commissioned Collishaw with a monumental onsite project, Magic Lantern.

Irit Rogoff Writer, Theorist and Professor of Visual Cultures, Goldsmiths, London Irit Rogoff holds a university chair in Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths College, London University and is director of an AHRB funded international research project “Cross Cultural Contemporary Arts”. Professor Rogoff is head of the MA Global Arts and of the Ph.D program “Curatorial/ Knowledge” at Goldsmiths and is honorary visiting Professor at Helsinki Aalto University and at Copenhagen University.

She writes extensively on conjunctions of critical theory and contemporary arts with particular interest in issues of geography, location, performativity and cultural difference. Rogoff has published “Terra Infirma - Geography’s Visual Culture” (2001); A.C.A.D.E.M.Y (2006); and “Unbounded – Limits’ Possibilities” (2012) among others and is currently working on a study of the participatory entitled “Looking Away - Participating Singularities and Ontological Communities” to be published in 2013. She has curated “De_Regulation - with the work of Kutlug Ataman” (Antwerp, Herzylia,Berlin 2006/7) and “Academy – Learning and Teaching” (Hamburg, Eindhoven, Antwerp 2005/6).

Payam Sharifi Co-Founder of Slavs and Tatars Payam Sharifi is an essayist, artist, and strategist concerned with the politics of culture and the culture of politics. After graduating from Columbia University, Payam received a Marshall Scholarship to attend the Royal College of Art in London where he studied for an MPhil. He is a contributing editor to the Berlin- based bi-annual 032c and the co-founder of Slavs and Tatars, a collective devoted to Eurasia who have exhibited in institutions across Europe, North America and the Middle East, including the Tate Modern, Salt, and 10th Sharjah Biennial.

Slavs and Tatars’s recent solo exhibitions include Beyonsense at the MoMA, NY and Khhhhhhh at Moravian Gallery, Brno. His writing has been translated into French, Czech, Portuguese and Russian; with Slavs and Tatars, he has authored and edited several books, including Kidnapping Mountains (Book Works, 2009), Not Moscow Not Mecca (Secession/Revolver, 2012) and Molla Nasreddin: the magazine that would’ve, could’ve, should’ve (JRP-Ringier, 2011).

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MOP CAP 2013 SHORTLISTED ARTISTS

Claudia Parwaneh Djabarri Shima Esfandiyari Negar Farajiani Arash Fayez Azin Feizabadi Farhad Fozouni Arash Hanaei Farzaneh Hosseini Maryam Iran Panah Mahmoud Mahroumi Sanaz Mazinani Payam Mofidi Bijan Moosavi Hani Najm Mohammad Hassan Nikbakht Anahita Norouzi Foad Rahnama Behnam Sadighi Parham Taghioff

Claudia Parwaneh Djabarri Shima Esfandiyari Negar Farajiani Arash Fayez Azin Feizabadi Farhad Fozouni Arash Hanaei Farzaneh Hosseini Maryam Iran Panah Mahmoud Mahroumi

Sanaz Mazinani Payam Mofidi Bijan Moosavi Hani Najm Mohammad Hassan Nikbakht Anahita Norouzi Foad Rahnama Behnam Sadighi Parham Taghioff

C L A U D I A

D J A B B A R I

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Claudia Parwaneh Djabbari Lives and works in Munich and London B. 1976

Born in Munich, Claudia Parwaneh Djabbari is a German-Iranian installation, sculpture and multimedia artist currently living and working between Munich and London. After studying theatre design at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria and Fine Art at the Akademie der Bidenden Künste in Munich, she completed her MFA in Fine Arts at Goldsmiths, Univerisity of London for which she received a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service.

Solo Exhibitions 2012

2005

Migration of Dreams / Haleh Gallery / Berg (Starnberger See), Germany Perserbilder / Akademiegalerie / Munich, Germany

Selected Group Exhibitions 2013

2012

2011

Summer Show / Cul de Sac Gallery / London, UK Residency-Exhibition-Project / Norrköping Konstmuseum / Norrköping, Sweden Paradise Lodge Residency-Exhibition-Project / Mumbai, India Constructed Scenario / The Third Space / Wilkes Street Space / London, UK Unconscious Architecture / Residency and Exhibition / Visual Artist’s Association Nicosia / Nicosia, Cyprus London-Munich / Cul de Sac Gallery / London, UK Winter Pavillion / Waterside Contemporary / London, UK No Neutral Ground / German Ambassador’s Residence / London, UK Portability & Network / Spaces Gallery / Cleveland, USA The Nightingale and the Rose / Rathausgalerie / Kunsthalle München / Munich, Germany Question de Principe - Matter of Principle / Art Mûr / Montreal, Canada Für Sie, pt.2 / Rathausgalerie / Landshut, Germany Perverted Minimalism, Nr.3 / Woodmill Gallery / London, UK Salts’ Third Edition by Claudia Djabbari / Salts / Birsfelden / Basel, Switzerland Für Sie, pt.1 / Kunstverein Passau / Passau, Germany Perverted Minimalism, Nr.2 / Matthias Jahn Galerie / Munich, Germany Collective Show with Nicolas Grenier / LA Pedestrians / Los Angeles, USA Versailles / The Gallery in Redchurch Street / London, UK Diving For Pearls (In Your Own Soup) III / Kunstraum Morgenstrasse / Karlsruhe, Germany Home Thoughts. The Sense of Belonging, pt.1 / Kunstraum / Munich, Germany

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2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

Outside-In / Aichi Triennale 2010 / Nagoya, Aichi, Japan Perverted Minimalism / Mintrop 8 / Düsseldorf, Germany Diving For Pearls II / Lothringer 13, Städtische Kunsthalle München / Munich, Germany The Devil’s Necktie / The Woodmill / London, UK The Museum of Small Things / Selfridges Ultralounge / London, UK SoShow / Shop at 34 / London, UK Expedition Medora / Weltraum / Munich, Germany Copystand - developed & organized by Stephanie Syjuco / Frieze Projects, Frieze Art Fair / London, UK DAADADA / Ada Street Gallery / London, UK MFA Degree Show / Goldsmiths, University of London / London, UK Group/Grope / Area 10 Project Space / London, UK GirlsGirlsGirls / Steinle Contemporary / Munich, Germany Diving for Pearls (In Your Own Soup) / Project Space New Quebec Street / London, UK Die Probe / ZKMax / Munich / Germany Zeitgenössische Kunst am Wittelsbacherplatz / 850th anniversary celebration of Munich / Munich, Germany Final Countdown / Galerie Steinle / Open Art / Munich, Germany Wege aus der Kunst / Lothringer 13 / Laden / Munich, Germany Expedition Medora 3 / Kunstarkaden / Munich, Germany Expedition Medora 2 / Lothringer 13 / Laden / Munich, Germany Skulpturale Handlungen / BBK / Munich, Germany Expedition Medora / ZKMax / Munich, Germany Dicht / Ausstellungspark Westend / Munich, Germany Gelbsucht / ZKMax / Munich, Germany Fischers Fritz fischt frische Fische / Katholische Akademie / Munich, Germany Hi Society / Alte Post / Munich, Germany Say No Production - Part I & II / Galerie Klüser 2 / Munich, Germany La Palma oder... / Annapril, Munich, Germany

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Claudia Parwaneh Djabbari

In my work, I try to investigate how social

working and housing manifest themselves

structures and geopolitical circumstances

in the world of things. A special interest lies

influence form, as well as how everyday

in collecting, accumulating, storing

life can put up with sculptural tracery and

and the sequencing of things.

transform into a personal, formal language.

Re-contextualised, these objects are freed from

My work is based on personal observations

their original function. Assembled, reproduced

and experiences rather than objective analysis.

and referential replicas, as well as invented

It relates to touch and the questioning

collections of things with an internal logic,

of a certain collective self-image. One origin

function as exemplary models for projections,

of my sculptural installations is fact-finding

phantasms, social rituals and codes.

about how certain social stereotypes of living,

Neda’s Birthday is a seemingly straight-forward group photograph of vernacular nature. It shows twelve young woman at a birthday party in Tehran.

The image is presented as a life-size print lit by a harsh spotlight.

Neda’s Birthday / Tehran, Iran, 2006 2006 / C-print, profiler spot / 150 x 250 cm

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Grand Hotel Djabbari The work Grand Hotel Djabbari captures the phantasm of a resort-like upmarket hotel in an idealised, oriental style. It is based solely on fantasies, stories, travel guides and illustrated books from different decades about the ‘Persian Riviera’, the specific area that the hotel was designed for.

Consistent with global standards, it draws on the personal vision of Claudia Djabbari, who designedthe model Grand Hotel Djabbari.

A parental Orange-Garden on the Caspian Sea serves as the conceptual setting for a potential holiday paradise. With regards to the area’s ideal natural geographic features and conditions for such an enterprise (in contrast to current geopolitical circumstances), the very illusory character of the project unfolds. The work moves between documentary and narration, utopia and pragmatism.

This highlights the discrepancy between reality and a fiction; presumed, and desired reality.

Grand Hotel Djabbari, Caspian Sea, Iran 2005 – 2012 / C-type print framed with mount board and acrylic-glass, unframed digital tabloid print, wooden frame / Dimensions variable

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Claudia Parwaneh Djabbari

In Storage The site-specific room-installation In Storage at the German Ambassador’s Residence in London insinuates a storage space; a place in which remnants of the past find themselves somewhere which may no longer be relevant to them.

Despite having no current purpose, this place remains significant and carries with it a personal and meaningful value.

Objects lean against a wall, or are placed in-between crafted wooden replicas of cardboard boxes. A wall appears to have only recently fulfilled its function, by supporting other elements. Everything is in a fragile condition between being unpacked and being put back into storage.

In Storage 2011 / MDF (boxes), plaster, books, porcelain, paper, plant, and sheep-felt / Dimensions variable

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Claudia Parwaneh Djabbari

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Claudia Parwaneh Djabbari

Form and Society is a collection of multiple objects. All of them subjectively refer to the atmosphere between an affluent middle-class society (following the 1968 Green Movement) and ecological activism during the late 1970’s and the 1980’s in West Germany.

The referential collection exemplifies this using a matted protest jumper (adorned with stickers from the Anti-nuclear movement), a model of a 1970’s housing estate and a ‘found’ Mercedes-star hanging like a pendant from a wall bracket, as well as a series of cast Volkswagen buses (a hippie-legend as well as the prototypical German police-buses).

Form and Society / Protest Jumper 2011 / Felted wool, stickers, buttons, wooden mannequin / 160 x 38 x 18 cm

Scale and Scope 2010 / Mixed media / Dimensions variable

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Claudia Parwaneh Djabbari

Scale and Scope The installation Scale and Scope for the Aichi Triennale in Nagoya, Japan reacts specifically with its surroundings and refers to the area’s commercial environment and the production history of cars in particular.

A complete series of Toyotas is transferred into a collection of abstract models and is combined with other everyday elements brought into abstraction.

S H I M A

E S F A N D I Y A R I

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Shima Esfandiyari Lives and works in Tehran B. 1977

Shima Esfandiyari began learning to draw and paint at the age of 14; going on to receive her Bachelor of Arts from Tehran Art & Architecture University in 2000.

Her thesis focused on the life and works of American contemporary artists (Richard Serra, Robert Ryman and Ellsworth Kelly) and the influence of minimalism on contemporary art. Following her graduation, she completed courses in drawing and sculpture and went on to study alongside art instructors at Aftab Art Institute and the Iranian Cultural Heritage University between 2000 and 2007. In 2007 she won the First Drawing Biennial Award.

Esfandiyari currently works as a professional painter.

Solo Exhibitions 2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

Bodies / Installation / Mah Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran Obscurity / Painting / Mah Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran Duality / Painting / Mah Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran Simple Technique of My Life / Painting / Mah Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran Colours of Grey / Painting / Aria Gallery / Tehran, Iran Untitled / Painting / Aria Gallery / Tehran, Iran

Group Exhibitions 2012

2011

2010

Haft Negah / Niavaran Cultural Center / Tehran, Iran Sculpture Group Exhibition / Shirin Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran Body Language in the Eyes of Iranian Artists / FA Gallery / Kuwait MOP CAP 2011 Shortlist Exhibition / Traffic / Dubai, UAE Reuse / FA Gallery / Kuwait Vernissage Gallery / Tbilisi / Georgia Dubai Art Fair (Art Dubai) / Dubai, UAE 13x18 / Etemad Gallery / Tehran, Iran Human Pulse / Art Center / Tehran, Iran 39 Artists / Mah Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran Every Painting Counts / Bayt Abdullah / Kuwait The Fourth Greatest Art Show of the Year / Iranian Artists’ Forum / Tehran, Iran Self Portrait II / Mohsen Gallery / Tehran, Iran Group Exhibition with 39 Artists / Mah Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran

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2009

2007

2006

2004

2003

1999

The Greatest Art Show of the Year Haft Negah / Pardis Gallery / Tehran, Iran The Greatest Art Show of the Year Haft Negah / Niyavaran Cultural Center / Tehran, Iran Untitled / Aria Gallery / Tehran, Iran Tehran Today / Vasby Konsthall / Stockholm, Sweden Untitled / Bahman Cultural Center / Tehran, Iran Untitled / Laleh Gallery / Tehran, Iran Untitled / Aria Gallery / Tehran, Iran

Biennials 2008

2007

2002

2001

1999

The 7th Tehran Contemporary Painting Biennial / Tehran, Iran The First Biennial of Drawing / Imam Ali Museum / Tehran, Iran Second Biennial of Drawing / Barg Gallery / Tehran, Iran The Second Tehran International Contemporary Drawing Exhibition / Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art / Tehran, Iran The First Tehran International Biennial of Contemporary Drawing Exhibition / Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art / Tehran, Iran

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Maturity Series 2011 / Oil and ink on canvas / 140 x 200 cm

Maturity Series

and superstitions, which created a cocoon.

Throughout my childhood my mind was

Elements such as keys, threads and talismans

preoccupied with the beliefs and superstitions

show the transition of superstitious beliefs

of the elderly which were passed down through

through the generations.

generations, in particular those of old women.

The most remarkable element of the paintings

I was able to see an unknown fear in their

is the women’s hair; previously a symbol

eyes, and even in the wrinkles of their faces.

of their beauty, it has now been attacked

At that time, their thoughts and words were

and invaded. To show the true expression

like horror stories for me. But now, when

of my artwork (strips and binds), I use a

I recall them, I can see that they had created

method where the line is the basic element.

a cocoon for themselves which prevented them

I do not use colour, as this way I can keep

from seeing the beauties of life.

the value and the purity of the lines, which

My figures are covered with strips that

are emphasised by the large dimensions of

are symbolic of the binds of old beliefs

my paintings.

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Shima Esfandiyari

My Roots Series 2011 / Oil and ink on canvas / 195 x 285 cm

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My Roots Series 2011 / Oil and ink on canvas / 185 x 195 cm

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Shima Esfandiyari

My Roots Series The people in my work are struggling to tie themselves to their roots. Instead, they have created a web, which is made of superstitions in which they have bound themselves.

This web has trapped their sight and has decayed them. I use designs from Persian carpets to portray our cultural roots. These designs are based on Persian architecture, music and in particular, gardens.

For several centuries, the rejections and limitations of old beliefs and superstitions have been keeping us away from our roots.

This is why most of my figures don’t have faces, because they have forgotten their identity. The superstitious beliefs among the people of my homeland Iran, which have cut them from their cultural roots and forced them to forget their true identity, are the main subjects that I explore in my work.

My Roots Series 2011 / Oil and ink on canvas / 210 x 145 cm

N E G A R

F A R A J I A N I

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Negar Farajiani Lives and works in Yazd and Tehran B. 1977

Born in Iran in the historic city of Yazd, Negar Farajiani is an interdisciplinary artist and independent curator who currently lives and works between Yazd and Tehran.

Farajiani works in a variety of media including installation, painting, photography and drawing.

After graduating, she returned to Yazd and began to paint abstract forms in order to cover the reality of a traditional, religious society. In 2003, she moved back to Tehran to continue painting and began showing her work in galleries. Farajiani has also illustrated books and cultural publications as well as taken part in two public art projects in Dubai. In 2009, she developed the ‘Puzzle’ series, the concept of which arose from confusion and a mishmash of meanings in Iran.

Her next project was an installation entitled ‘Insect’s March’ which depicted the unpleasant events of 2009.

Farajiani uses the beauty and comfort of large fabrics; enabling the viewer to walk through suspended fabrics in a marching fashion and touch the giant insects in order to overcome their fears. They are positioned in ranks, and march behind one another like an army.

The artist’s latest solo exhibition, UNDO challenges the physical abuse, bullying and brutality of women. Projects curated by Farajiani since 2010 include Tehran Monoxide Project and

Destination Known, which involve collaborative work relating to social and environmental issues.

Solo Exhibitions 2012

2011

2007

2004

2002

MIX & UNMATCH / M.I.A. Gallery / Seattle, USA UNDO / Sazmanab Project / Tehran, Iran Insect’s March / Etemad Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran Painting Exhibition / Assar Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran Painting Exhibition / Assar Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran Painting Exhibition / Assar Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran

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Selected Group Exhibitions 2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

Encore / M.I.A. Gallery / Seattle, USA Void / Sareban Gallery / Tehran, Iran On Paper; Without A Name / Parkingallery / Tehran, Iran Public project by Factory’s Garden / The Invisible Present Video Program at Oi Futuro / Rio, Brazil Public Art / The Second Contemporary Art Exhibition / Sanandaj, Iran A Report and an Exhibition of Factory’s Garden/ Mohsen Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran Tehran Monoxide Project / Manzoumeh Kherad Institute / Tehran, Iran 13 x 18 / Etemad Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran Site-Specific Installation / Factory’s Garden / Yazd, Iran Exhibition for charity (Khaneh Khorshid) / Tehran, Iran Painting Exhibition / Iranian Arts Forum / Tehran, Iran Painting Exhibition for charity / Dar-ol-Fonoon Gallery / Kuwait New Trend of Iranian Painting, Collected Memories / Art Space Gallery / London, UK An Exhibition of Contemporary of Iranian Arts / Iran Heritage Foundation / London, UK Painting Exhibition / Assar Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran Painting Exhibition / Iranian Arts Forum / Tehran, Iran Painting Exhibition / Baran Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran Painting Exhibition / Assar Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran China Expo / Beijing, China Painting Exhibition / Assar Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran Painting Exhibition / Assar Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran

Curating Experience 2012

2011

Destination Known “Sha’rbafi” Kashan / 256 km / Iran Tehran Monoxide Project / Manzoumeh Kherad Institute / Tehran, Iran Destination Known “Factory’s Garden” / Yazd 677 km, Iran

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Insect’s March These days, the mere practice of painting fails to satisfy the demands of my mind despite it once posing the greatest challenge to my subconscious.

Today, anything can aid artists in expressing their inner being. The insects in this collection have survived through decades and centuries.

They never intended to flaunt an artificial or forgotten beauty. Cypress trees, flowers and legendary brides have now been substituted by these annoying insects. In a nightmare perhaps, one can see them as modern man’s company rather than yesterday’s pestering creatures. In this collection, I have attempted to show (from a modern man’s perspective) how

Insect’s March 2010 / Mixed media / 230 x 180 cm each / Edition of 8

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Negar Farajiani

the past and the revival of memories can become routine practice when he gardens.

Rivers and Cypress trees have sadly been reduced to a mere framed picture on a wall of the house.

Insect’s March depicts the unpleasant events surrounding the 2009 elections in my country and societal aftermath. Here, I have used the powerful contrast between feminine ‘likes’ such as quilt making, sewing, patchwork and ‘dislikes’ such as insects.

By doing so, I have created layers of art, politics and culture in the same work. Viewers are able to walk through the interactive installation and touch the giant insects as a challenge to their fears!

Made in China Sometimes the extreme seriousness of relations and principles brings the treacherous.

Once in a while, bloody games turn into historical scenes, in such a way that we consider ourselves gigantic and obligated to subdue the rival.

Gay and playful objects transform us into tiny humble creatures. They create the possibility of seeing a child who dominates us and determines our true situation. Is it the ball which reminds us of our real size?

Or our neglect that makes it excessively big?

This ball crashes through the doors and wall of a deserted textile factory, wrecking both.

A pneumatic ball smacks into the side of a sand castle on the coast. Everything falls under the shadow of the ball, but no one cares about the factory and its wreckage. The happy and cheerful success of the ball Made in China catches all eyes. Can we allegorically extend this story to the stories of the global economy and local businesses?

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Negar Farajiani

Negar Farajiani

Made in China 2011 / Mixed media installation and video / 400 x 400 cm

A R A S H

F A Y E Z

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Arash Fayez Lives and works in Berkeley B. 1984

Arash Fayez’s practice engages in political identities and location. Fayez began as a photographer, however now describes himself as a hybrid artist for whom photography is an intrinsic part of his creative process. Fayez also curates exhibitions focused on photography and emerging photographers.

Currently completing a Master of Fine Arts at California College of the Arts, San Francisco, Fayez is represented by Silk Road Gallery, Tehran, Iran. His works are exhibited in the collection of Houston’s Museum of Fine Arts (MFAH).

Solo Exhibitions 2011

Ramblings of a Flâneur / Silk Road Gallery / Tehran, Iran

Selected Group Exhibitions 2013

2012

2011

Limited Access 4, curated by AmirAli Ghasemi / Aaran Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran Iranian Arts Now / La Cité Internationale des Arts / Paris, France La Photographie Contemporaine en Iran / Galerie Regard Sud / Lyon, France In the Currents, curated by Taraneh Hemami & Lucy K Lin / Asian Art Gallery / Oakland, USA MFA Now 2012, curated by Kevin B. Chen / Root Division / San Francisco, USA OtherIS, curated by Sandra Skurvida / Thomas Erben Gallery / New York, USA MOP CAP 2011 Finalists’ Exhibition / Royal College of Art / London, UK My Super Hero / Aaran Gallery / Tehran, Iran and Morono Kiang Gallery / Los Angeles, USA Postcards from Tehran, curated by Nazila Noebashari / 18th Street Arts Center / Santa Monica, USA

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Untitled #209 I made this video in 2010 using the idea of failure and despair to praise the solidarity against oppression. Due to the absence of a specific place and date, this work can be related to any current story worldwide.

The narration relates to the truth that we are merely observing the oppression, and nothing more.

Untitled #209 2009 / Single-channel video, black and white, no sound / 55 sec / Edition of 3 + 1 AP

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CitĂŠ

represent anywhere. I removed footage which

This video installation explores recent riots

contained any recognisable icons; the result

in the Middle East and the associated

being footage from different countries,

romantic stories behind them. The most

all edited together. The final result is

apparent themes in these widely viewed videos

a four-channel video installation which,

are violence and suspension. The low quality

shows the same video, however with different

of the footage taken by civilian reporters offers

subtitles and narrations heard (on headphones)

a sense of an ambiguous location which could

for each individual channel.

CitĂŠ 2013 / Four-channel video, colour, sound / 5 min / Edition of 3 + 1 AP

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Arash Fayez

Yek Video’ye Bedoun’e Onvaan

With this video, I confront my experiences

(which means “An Untitled Video” in Farsi)

of living in a new place and the possibility

is the first piece I created after having moved

of a transformation of my identity.

to the United States.

It is a change which can be painful and violent

I filmed myself shaving my beard without soap

as well as a transitional period during which

or water in a public location in San Francisco;

injustice can be experienced.

an act that proved both difficult and painful.

Yek Video’ye Bedoun’e Onvaan 2012 / Single-channel HD video, colour, sound / 13 min 56 sec / Edition of 3 + 1 AP

55

Arash Fayez

My Expired Utopia Tehran is a city without sky, but I like it, because it was mine. When you lose something – or it is stolen from you – you realise how much it meant to you. Tehran is, for anyone, a far distance. You can buy it; from the Institute of Topography of Tehran, in any quantity you wish, with a set price and scale.

This applies to almost every part of the city, but only from a distance; just from far.

Up close, I do not own Tehran anymore, they have stolen my own city from me. I want to shoot a frame, but I feel unsafe. I am inside a car unsure whether I have the right to take a picture or not. I have a feeling that says to me, “not from a close distance, not you”.

“Urban places”; those places we can pass any day, all of those everyday-life crossroads, sidewalks and squares, have become “urban monuments”. The same bridges, crossroads and sidewalks that I passed before, I am passing now. Those places I used to walk, without paying any special attention.

Those red paths where we all walked together hand in hand; some of us lying down on those grey, bloodied streets never standing again.

Now the streets have all been cleaned and polished.

My Expired Utopia 2009 – 2011 / Mixed media, aerial photograph, transparent colour tape, Polaroid, acrylic glass / 34.5 x 46 cm or 48 x 34.5 cm

A Z I N

F E I Z A B A D I

58

Azin Feizabadi Lives and works in Berlin B. 1982

Born in Iran, Azin Feizabadi is a Berlin-based filmmaker, visual artist and graphic designer.

He graduated with an MFA from The New School NYC in 2011 and attained a ‘Meisterschueler’ degree for Visual Culture Studies from UdK Berlin.

Feizabadi launched an ongoing project in 2009 concerned with collecting subjective histories and subconscious facts from historical, present and future events; resulting in a series of narrative video and film works entitled, ‘A Collective Memory’.

Having arisen as an immediate response to the socio-political transformations in Iran as well as the wider Middle East, ‘A Collective Memory’ uses poetic grammar to combat the three-act narrative structure of (his) story telling. ‘The Epic of the Lovers: Mafia, God and the Citizens’ (2009); ‘Time, Space, Karbala’ (2010) and ‘Conference of the Birds’ (2011), among others, suggest an associative method of recording, viewing and narrating history through cinema and format-specific, expanded media. In 2006, together with Kaya Behkalam, Feizabadi co-founded the art collective Reloading Images; a platform for artistic research as well as curatorial and publication projects in the Middle East and Europe.

He has designed, co-edited and co-published the Reloading Images Publication series as well as the book then we went in search of somewhere to stay the night (together with Ashkan Sepahvand and Sohrab Mohebbi), commissioned by the Sharjah Biennial 2011. Feizabadi was awarded a DAAD grant for New York in 2009/2010 in addition to a fellowship at the Sommerakademie Bern in 2010, with Jan Verwoert as the academy curator.

Selected Screenings and Exhibitions 2013

2012

2011

2010

(UN)WRITTEN - (RE)WRITTEN / Galerie im Koernerpark / Berlin, Germany Forum Expanded / Berlinale / Berlin, Germany Heidelberger Kunstverein / Heidelberg, Germany Townhouse Gallery / Cairo, Egypt Sharjah Biennial / Sharjah, UAE Queens Museum of Art / New York, USA Sheila C. Johnson Design Center / New York, USA House of World Cultures Berlin / Berlin, Germany n.b.k. / Berlin, Germany Silkroad Gallery / Tehran, Iran CHAN Contemporary Art Association / Genoa, Italy

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2008

2007

2006

NGBK / Berlin, Germany Tarahan Azad Gallery / Tehran, Iran European Media Art Festival / Osnabrueck, Germany Oberhausen International Film Festival / Oberhausen, Germany Hamburg International Film Festival / Hamburg, Germany

Selected Curatorial Projects 2012

Citizens Reporting, A Collective Memory / Four-day symposium at Mind Pirates / Berlin, Germany 2010

Reloading Images Series / House of World Cultures / Berlin, Germany 2007-2008

Reloading Images / Damascus, Syria 2006-2007

Reloading Images / Berlin, Germany & Tehran, Iran 2005-2006

Co-director of E4 gallery & project space / Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin, Germany Selected Publications 2012

Series of correspondences in the form essays / Video Vortex 9

Citizens Reporting and the Fabrication of A Collective Memory / Co-written with Dina Kafafi

and Jens Maier-Rothe / Ibraaz Vol. 4

Positioning Osmotic Impulses / Artist book and exhibition catalogue / SAAVY Contemporary / Berlin, Germany 2011

A Hijab scarf intervenes with the sensitive nerves of the German public opinion / or-bits.com

then we went in search of somewhere to stay the night / Artist book / Sharjah Biennial 10 / Sharjah, UAE 2006-2009

Reloading Images Publications Nr. 1- 4 2005

Jewels from the nice village / Artist book (edition of 15) / Gardoon Publishing House / Berlin, Germany

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The Epic of the Lovers:

the protesters, and political elements, iconic

Mafia, God and theCitizens Two intermingled narratives melt into images

images, and symbolism emerging during this

to construct this piece. The first consists

of questions collected from Iranians and

of personal diary entries made both prior

non-Iranians concerning this movement

to - and following - the 2009 Iranian elections.

as a fragment of the historical processes.

The diary’s author, who is also developing

The game consists of three major roles

the film, begins by describing a personal

and is led by ‘God’ into day and night phases.

fascination with a highly popular role-playing

At night, all of the citizens close their

game amongst the Iranian youth, ‘Mafia, God

eyes and the ‘mafia’ assassinate their victims

and the Citizens’. The entries reflect a parallel

silently through the direction of their gaze.

between the making of the film and a record

During the day, the citizens negotiate, accuse

of the subjective reflections and emotional

their suspects, and ‘execute’ other players

reactions of the author to the participation

through democratic votes.

of citizens in silent protests, violence against

era. The second narrative consists of a body

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Azin Feizabadi

The Epic of the Lovers: Mafia, God and the Citizens 2009 / HD video, colour, stereo sound / 27 minutes / Edition of 5

Time, Space, Karbala re-stages a Pardeh-Khani event in which the curtain transforms from a physical object of painting into a projected image; the Pardeh-Khan.

The narrator re-enacts and performs gestures similar to those seen in the battle of Karbala, whilst actually being directed to re-enact scenes from street riots during the 2009 Iranian uprising.

Times and spaces melt into each other and provide an alternative political urgency - beyond western/eastern political grammar running from 680 CE through to 2009.

Time, Space, Karbala 2010 / HD video, colour, stereo sound / 11 min 30 sec / Edition of 5 -next page-

Conference of the Birds (Mantiq at-Tayr) Drawing on the medieval saga Mantiq at-Tayr, composed in 1177 by the Sufi poet Attar, the eponymous project Conference of the Birds is a cinematically projected event that takes the form of a narrative film. The scene is a trial in an empty, abandoned space, a no-where, a moment in-between time. There are two characters: a judge and the accused. The accused is a filmmaker who has made an amorous film in order to illuminate the distance between himself and his beloved. Following the film’s completion, he is arrested and accused of creating a film that has induced hypnosis amongst the citizens, causing them to rise up and turn their inner reality outward into the public sphere.

Conference of the Birds is narrated by a voice-over: the voice of the lover who made the hypnotizing film. This voice narrates two interwoven stories: the first layer describes the scene of the trial. The second narrative is the story of the Conference of the Birds itself, the film as seen by the spectator here and now. This story is addressed to an indefinite ‘you’ as a story of love and the memories of its being told in other places at other times.

A sequence of historical, revolutionary uprisings is interspersed throughout the narrative,

65

Azin Feizabadi

namely 1986 in Quezon City, 1989 in Bucharest, and 2010 in Tunis.

Additionally, there is a third character, a hooded figure that appears and disappears throughout the progression of the film. She or he is the soldier of melancholia, the servant of the court and a traveler of time. This figure’s presence is ambivalent; suspended as an embodiment between the voice of the storyteller and the spectator.

Spread out across these two narratives, the spectator migrates together with the voice-over through seven acts as the group of birds travel through seven valleys in search of the ‘bird of the birds’, the Simorgh, arriving at the final scene, the seventh stage, where all the answers are supposed to be given, and yet: nothing will be revealed.

Conference of the Birds (Mantiq at-Tayr) 2011 / HD video, colour & BW, stereo sound / 48 minutes / Edition of 5

F A RH A D

F O Z O U N I

68

Farhad Fozouni Lives and works in Berlin B. 1978

BA in Graphic Design: Tehran Azad University | DAAD Grant. Residency. Germany, 2012 | STA (Society of Typographic Art) Medal for excellence in typography | 1st Chicago Poster Biennial, 2008 | ROOZI ROOZEGARI AWARD, for the Best Iranian Book Design, 2010 | IGDS Diploma, 9th Tehran Graphic Biennial, 2007 | Nominated for the Taiwan International Poster Design Award, 2005 |

Solo Exhibitions 2011

2007

Moshaddad / Azad Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran Moshajjar / Miark Art Gallery / Mashhad, Iran Posters* (Elanat) / Laleh Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran

Group Exhibitions 2012

2009

2008

2006

2006

2005

2005

2003

1999

Shanghai Biennale / Shanghai, China Beynabeyniyat / Mahe-Mehr Gallery / Tehran, Iran Bimzar / Azad Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran Kitchen / Mohsen Gallery / Tehran, Iran - 2010 1st & 2nd Chicago Poster Biennial / Chicago, USA 8th & 9th Golden Bee Poster Biennial / Moscow, Russia - 2008 20th & 21st Warsaw International Poster Exhibition / Warsaw, Poland 22nd Biennale International Graphic Design / Brno, Czech Republic - 2007 10th & 11th International Biennale of Theatre Posters / Rzesz贸w, Poland 4th China International Poster Exhibition / Hangzhou, China Taiwan International Poster Exhibition / Taiwan 1st New Art Exhibition / Tehran, Iran - 2007 5th, 7th, 8th & 9th Tehran Graphic Biennial / Tehran, Iran

69

Nightmare Poetry is a series of three nightmares, in which each nightmare contains footnotes based on real memories, which were intended to help me comprehend my own nightmares.

The nightmares all end with the similar experience of being unable to scream out of fear.

Nightmare Poetry 2011 / Stickers on wall / 170 x 300 cm

70

Slide Poetry This is a mixture between poetry, slide-show and performance art. It forces the audience to view the performance in order to read the poem.

Slide Poetry 2011 / Slide show / Dimensions variable

71

Farhad Fozouni

Tight Poetry The words of the poem create a large machine which forces the audience to work with it in order to read it. The poem is about looking for comfort in your lovers’ arms.

Tight Poetry 2011 / Wood, stainless steel, plexi-glass / 64 x 44 x 70 cm

72

Eyedrops Poetry This poem was published ironically as a commercial advertisement. The poem advertises eye drops designed to help prevent the face from being covered in tears.

It works by drying the eyes of any kind of tear.

Eyedrops Poetry 2010 / Offset print / 90 x 70 cm / Edition 1 of 10

73

Farhad Fozouni

Aftershock Poetry In this series of drawings, I have visualised my poems not only through words but also by drawing images.

As opposed to black ink commonly used in print, I used red ink, to represent blood.

I used architectural buildings by looking at Iranian miniatures to reveal an Iranian atmosphere in my poetry.

Aftershock Poetry 2010 / Digital print and ink / 50 x 32 cm / Special Edition

A R A S H

H A N A E I

76

Arash Hanaei Lives and works in Paris and Tehran B. 1978 With a pre-graduate background in graphic design, I studied photography at Tehran Azad University. Following my graduation, I began to re-create actual events which were unfolding in the Middle East, using replicas and plastic dolls.

I simultaneously experimented with digital drawing by eliminating details and using flat colours to create simplified images. I concentrated on the paradoxes of the murals in the city of Tehran.

The economic changes brought in huge advertising billboards which took over the streets and main squares, alongside imagery and slogans of a bygone era.

From 2008, a macro look at socio-economic events and society evolved into a detailed concentration on oneself and the preoccupations of an individual, through a sarcastic look at isolation, individualism and the repression of dreams. This was a way to criticise - and simultaneously employ - art as a double-edged sword; applying it to more individual domains in contrast to the general application of art to global domains, while enabling a creation based on a more factual realisation.

To me, what matters is the significance of the process in which an artwork is created, regardless of conclusions drawn from contrasting points of view toward art and creation. Here, I have no fear of leaving works undone or ‘in progress’. I believe uniformed, homogenous series abolish individualist values and drive the artist to a certain repetition and an absolute commitment to the interlocutor; to an extent where the conclusion is interpreted as the final objective.

Solo Exhibitions 2012

2010

2009

2004

02-blissefullartist-arriving-shoes-empty-earth.psd / Aaran Gallery / Tehran, Iran Miscellaneous / Aaran Gallery / Tehran, Iran CAPITAL / Aaran Gallery / Tehran, Iran The Benefits of Vegetarianism / Silk Road Gallery / Tehran, Iran

Group Exhibitions 2012

2011

Iranian Arts Now, curated by Fereshteh Daftari, Barbad Golshiri, Leila Heller, Nader Homayoun, Sandra Skurdiva, Amirali Ghasemi / Cité Internationale des Art / Paris, France Pulso Iraniano, curated by Marc Pottier / Oi Futuro Cultural Center / Rio de Janeiro, Brazil My Superhero / MoronoKiang Gallery / Los Angeles, USA

77

2010

2009

2008

2006

2005

2004

2002

Unexpected, curated by Necmi Sönmez / Kunstmuseum Bochum / Bochum, Germany I.U.[HEART] / Third Line Gallery / Dubai, UAE Iran diVerso: Black or White? / Verso Gallery / Turin, Italy Iran Inside Out, curated by Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath / Chelsea Museum of Art /New York, USA Golden Gates, Contemporary Art from the Middle East / Organised by F&A Projects / Paris, France Made in Iran, curated by Arianne Levene and Églantine de Ganay / Asia House / London, England Ashura, The 10th Day / Aaran Gallery / Tehran, Iran International Arts & Artists / Hillyer Art Space / Washington DC, USA Breaking News, Contemporary Art from the Middle East / Organised by F&A Projects / Paris, France Iran / Lopdell House Gallery / Auckland, New Zealand In the State of Weightlessness / Silk Road Gallery / Tehran, Iran self/destruct / Bag Factory Art Gallery / Johannesburg, South Africa Iran / Gold Coast City Art Gallery / Queensland, Australia Thinking Cypresses / Rebel Minds Gallery / Berlin, Germany Berlin Meets Tehran / Tammen Gallery / Berlin, Germany N Gallery / Tbilisi, Georgia Only Delhi / Khoj Gallery / New Delhi, India Khak Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran Assar Gallery / Tehran, Iran Vis-à-Vis / Art Space Gallery / Dubai, UAE Silk Road Gallery / Tehran, Iran

Awards 2000

Special Award of the 2nd Iranian Contemporary Drawing Festival / Museum of Contemporary Art /Tehran, Iran

Participations 2004

Photo-Dialogue Contest / Iranian Artist’s Forum / Tehran, Iran 9th Biennial of Iranian Contemporary Photography / Academy of the Arts / Tehran, Iran

Residencies 2006

2005

‘Bag Factory’ Artists’ Studios / Johannesburg, South Africa ‘Khoj’ International Artists’ Association / New Delhi, India

Recreational Area 2008 / Diasec print / 210 x 300 cm / Edition 2 of 3 / Produced by Daniela da Prato

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Arash Hanaei

Recreational Area is a presentation

Written on the t-shirt of an individual seated

of random selection and disorientation;

in an X-Ray room, staring at the medical

a general and sarcastic look at isolation,

atmosphere is ‘Be Natural in Nature.

individualism and the repression of dreams.

’ This image is next to that of a high wall

In the only frame where people try to connect

topped with barbed wire which separates

and interact in a group activity, the referee

an area in to two parts and reveals no signs

issues a ruling to destroy the ball. In doing so,

from either side. Thus, any activity is

the only existing ‘relationship’ element is

concealed to those on both sides of the wall.

removed. The other works in the series

This work offers a “puzzle” of inconsistent

are produced using the same dimensions

situations and invites the viewer to find

and subject matter; however in inconsistent situ-

relationships between the images;

ations, placed alongside each other.

a sort of game where one can create his

In one frame, various brands of hygiene

or her own story.

products are presented as outlines on a black background, without the use of any colour or advertisements.

81

Arash Hanaei

Capital Wall paintings in Tehran date back to the 1979

* Palimpsests were stone or metal tablets used for writing

revolution. Grand frames display portraits

and re-writing in Ancient Greece, before the invention

of religious leaders and those who died

of paper. In the works of Derrida, palimpsest is a metaphor

in the eight-year war between Iran and Iraq.

of a text made difficult or impossible to understand due

Accompanying most of these paintings

to the signs and traces remaining from previous texts written

are quotations by “martyrs” or religious

on it. From a different viewpoint, palimpsest can also

narratives which advertise concepts such

be considered a metaphor for intertextuality and the

as altruism, gallantry, endurance for the sake

interrelation of texts causing the apparently independent

of Allah and resistance against the exploitation

words and phrases to be woven together in a new texture,

by the West, in particular the United States.

creating a labyrinth of meaning.’’

During the post-war period in Iran (known as the ‘construction era’), commercials which

Extract from an article written by Homayoun Asgari Sirizi

had disappeared during a previous verge

on Capital series by Arash Hanaei

towards revolutionary conquest made a gradual comeback. This put the duality between citizens and even politicians under the spotlight. Vacuum cleaners, kitchen appliances and facial creams under the license of so called “Western” brands could be seen across the city; turning the capital, Tehran, into a wonderland of paradoxical concepts.

The collection Capital contains 34 images of Tehran.

“From a different viewpoint, the overlapping of these pictures and texts, also reveal the essence of the city as a palimpsest*. While the city can be seen as a palimpsest when one considers its physical structure being built and rebuilt over and over again.Today, Capital is a new writing on the city’s texture, so bold and clear that it has effaced the slightest traces of older texts.

Capital 2009 / Print on fine art paper, light box / 180 x 120 cm (light box) 110 x 165 cm (print) / Edition 1 of 10; 5 light boxes, 5 prints + 2 AP / Courtesy of Simin Dehghani

82

Arash Hanaei

Empty (Void) The Void series is a work created by a blissful character who sees himself as being in contrast to the image of an idealist artist who is sometimes portrayed as a dreamer, sometimes an illusionist, sometimes desperately blissful and sometimes a wanderer. There are times when the producer of The Void holds on to the events and other times when he clings to the images in his head without pursuing any objectives while he is producing.

I believe that a uniform, homogenous series abolishes individualist values and drives the artist to a certain repetition; while making an absolute commitment to the interlocutor, to such an extent that the conclusion is interpreted as the final objective. Void insists on a variety of forms and accentuates colour and ambiance to a degree where concepts are confined to their synonyms. This bestows the responsibility of interpretation upon the interlocutor. For instance, in the “Empty� component, the concept of being void (which is consistently followed by philosophical notions), is mocked by the use of ordinary images of empty boxes, unsolved labyrinths, unloaded guns and ornamental flowers, framing nothing.

In other words, the void itself becomes voided.

Empty (Void) 2012 / Diasec print / 100 x 100 cm / Edition 1 of 3 + 2 AP / Produced by the artist in France

84

Sharpened Edges is the name of a tool in Adobe Photoshop. It is literally used to ‘sharpen the edges’.

Photojournalism on the Internet has always drawn my attention. As a result, I used to keep a large collection of these images, particularly those portraying the Middle East and its conflicts.

I have often used dolls as they provide a quick method of reconstructing the reality; in a studio with fixed lighting, and in this case, an amateur camera.

The low-resolution images are similar to the photographs which can be downloaded on the Internet. This concept appears in a number of my other projects in addition to this series.

In this series, silhouettes of American soldiers on the other side of the border are seen at a distance and the weight of their presence is felt.

85

Arash Hanaei

Sharpened Edges 2004 / Print on photo paper / 4 prints, 10 x 14 cm each / Edition 5 of 5 +2 AP

86

Limited Vision in the

or refugees and illegal immigrants in refugee

Yellow Housing Project

camps. The use of plastic comments on the

Six plastic houses appear in this particular

exponential increase in the use of this material

installation. Their façade is emblematic

in developing nations, which disregard

of the word “house�; the aim being to provide

the environmental repercussions.

a simple visual definition of this word.

Limited Vision in the Yellow Housing Project

They are similar in appearance to suburban

shows similar houses in the same colours; with

houses but so relatively diminutive in size that

each detail intended to elicit the same set of

residents can only enter them in a wheelchair.

behaviours as the individuals living in them.

The arrangement of the set (including the

The only method by which to enter one of

use of plastic) intentionally neglects design

these plastic houses is in a wheelchair.

standards, both inside and out. These are

This is due to the height of the entrance and

examples of houses built for the deprived

ceiling having been calculated to accommodate

87

only a sitting individual.

Simultaneously, advertisements are designed

The houses have no windows, however

to promote consumerism.

a closed circuit camera allows residents

It seems as though ownership of few square

to ‘sneak a look’ at what is happening outside.

meters has become the main goal and ideal

Cameras are fixed on the roofs of the houses

purpose for individuals.

at a particular angle and orientation.

It is the outcome of years of toil and confusion.

In this way, the view from each house is

Life in Limited Vision in the Yellow Housing

predetermined. This camera is the only link

Project shows an ideal in the same way that

between the inside and the outside.

the concept of utopia shows an unreachable

The doors to these houses face away from

reality. Behind closed walls we face limitations.

neighbouring houses, making it unnecessary

We are invited to consume and be ignorant

for residents to encounter one another while

of our environment.

coming and going.

Each house contains a single light as well as a dictionary for reading pleasure. All pages of this dictionary contain only one word, which represents a letter of the English alphabet. This word indicates the limitations of movement, vision and ultimately, the knowledge and awareness of individuals.

Each house is equipped with a small computer.

Each computer is capable of performing three actions: 1. Offering a view of an ideal outside through the camera fixed on the roof. (With the image of trees or seas fixed in front of the camera).

2. Showing the scene inside to those on the outside through webcams attached to computers. (This would highlight the preoccupation of individuals with their private lives and personal problems).

3. Making several image files appear on the desktop. Each of these files contains infmercials which are several seconds long and further explain the advantages of owning or renting a plastic house.

Employment in government sectors, he military and similar state affiliated organisations is aggressively advertised.

Limited Vision in the Yellow Housing Project 2010 / Mixed media / 178 x 170 x 166 cm each / Edition 1 of 6

F A R Z A N E H

H O S S E I N I

90

Farzaneh Hosseini Lives and works in Tehran B. 1984

Farzaneh Hosseini was born in Tehran, Iran. After receiving a diploma in painting, her enthusiasm for drawing grew and she began to participate in a number of group and solo exhibitions while contributing to theoretical artistic topics.

Hosseini became familiar with Lino Print and later pursued this style more actively.

In 2005 she studied painting in Alzahra University and in 2006 took part in Parviz Tanavoli’s classes.

As a result of these, Hosseini exhibited in a group exhibition at Assar Art Gallery.

Her Lino Print works have also been exhibited at the Artist’s Forum in Tehran.

For four years Hosseini worked as an assistant to Parviz Tanavoli in his workshop in Niavaran.

Being exposed to Tanavoli’s artworks and contributing to the creation of his sculptures was a special and unique experience which led her to choose sculpture as her primary activity.

Hosseini recently began a project which focuses on traditional Iranian sports; using the ‘Mil’ (something used in Zoorkhaneh, an Iranian traditional gymnasium) as the main element in her artwork. This in turn led to a series of works entitled ‘People of City’. In this collection ‘Mil’ was generally symbolic of the human.

In a further project developed following her graduation, Hosseini used the baton as her main element. This work was exhibited in a solo exhibition entitled Intricate Knot.

Solo Exhibitions 2012

2010

2006

Intricate Knot, Sculpture Exhibition / Mah Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran City People, Sculpture Exhibition / Mah Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran Printmaking Exhibition (linocut) / Iranian Artist Forum / Tehran, Iran

Group Exhibitions 2012

2011

The First Painting & Sculpture Annual Exhibition / Iranian Artists Forum / Tehran, Iran Figure, Group Sculpture Exhibition with A.I.S / Shirin Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran Popli Khalatbari Charitable Foundation Auction / London, UK The Second Expo Sculpture Exhibition / Shirin Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran The Third Generation and Parviz Tanavoli, Group Sculpture Exhibition / Farvahar Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran Popli Khalatbari Charitable Foundation Auction / London, UK Art Dubai / Dubai, UAE Small Sculpture Exhibition with A.I.S / Farvahar Gallery / Tehran, Iran Group Sculpture Exhibition / Barg Gallery / Tehran, Iran

91

2010

2008

2007

2006

2003

2001

Group Exhibition of Sculpture, with Maekous Sculpture Group / Shirin Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran Small Sculpture Exhibition with A.I.S / Iranian Artist Forum / Tehran, Iran Group Exhibition of Sculpture with A.I.S / Barg Gallery / Tehran, Iran Group Exhibition of Sculpture with Maekous Sculpture Group / 10 Gallery / Tehran, Iran The First Iranian Sculpture Expo / Iranian Artist Forum / Tehran, Iran The 3rd Exhibition of Iranian Contemporary Art / Niavaran Gallery / Tehran, Iran Group Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture / Mah Gallery / Tehran, Iran An Exhibition of Medals / The British Museum / London, UK The First Festival of Literary Masterpiece Illustrators / Niavaran Gallery / Tehran, Iran The 3rd Festival of Sand Sculptures / Babolsar & Sari, Iran Group Exhibition of Sculpture, with Maekous Sculpture Group / Assar Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran An Exhibition of Drawing with Passage Artistic Group / Laleh Gallery / Tehran, Iran Group Exhibition with Passage Artistic Group / Nezami Ganjavi Gallery / Tehran, Iran

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Interview 2011 / Bronze / 36 x 33 x 24 cm / Edition 1 of 3

Interview At first glance, this piece is a tribune with microphones which invites you to be interviewed, however the microphones are actually batons. You are invited to speak, however you are not free to say whatever you want, so it becomes more like a show.

93

Farzaneh Hosseini

Intricate Knot 2011 /Brass / 25 x 50 x 14 cm / Edition 1 of 2

Intricate Knot In this work the baton, a symbol of power, is tied up. I have always dreamt of being able to do this. I would like to tie up all devices of power.

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Farzaneh Hosseini

TV Throughout the world, media has always been dictated by the government. The idea behind this sculpture was inspired by this fact.

In this work, the baton symbolises power and the TV symbolises the media.

The TV screen shows images of a reality which is controlled by a multitude of batons above.

TV 2012 / Bronze / 65 x 43 x 35 cm / AP of 1 + 1 AP

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Gift Batons locked by a belt are a gift from the authorities to the people’s protests.

Gift 2012 / Wood and bronze / 60 x 25 x 25 cm / Unique

Invitation to Cooperate Violence in society is like a cheap, available commodity which has entered all of the houses and is, as a result, comprehensible in all social relationships. By placing several batons in a shopping bag, I have put the viewers in the dilemma of whether to accept this invitation.

Invitation to Cooperate 2012 / Bronze and brass / 65 x 29 x 14 cm / Edition 1 of 2 -opposite page-

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Farzaneh Hosseini

M A R Y A M

I R A N P A N A H

100

Maryam Iran Panah Lives and works in Karlsruhe B. 1979

Born in Tehran, Iran | 2008-2011 Visual Arts at the HBK Saar in Saarbrücken, Germany | 2000-2004 Photography at the Azad University of Art and Architecture in Tehran, Iran

Solo Exhibitions 2011

2010

Zieh dem Tiger das Fell nicht ab (Don’t Flay the Tiger’s Pelt) / GEDOK / Karlsruhe, Germany ‫( بازی‬Play) Solo Exhibition / Azad Gallery / Tehran, Iran ‫( این بازی برنده ای ندارد‬This game doesn’t have a winner) / Silk Road Gallery / Tehran, Iran

Group Exhibitions 2012

2011

2010

2009

Mix Versteh’n Vielfalt der Kulturen (Understanding a Mix of Various Cultures) / Brötzinger Art Gallery / Pforzheim, German Collective Exhibition of Iranian Contemporary Art / Dar Al-Fonoon Art Gallery / Kuwait Ich will keine Engel sein (I don’t want to be an angel) / Orgelfabrik / Karlsruhe, Germany Sei das Wasser (Be the water) / Schöne Künste Gallery / Saarbrücken, Germany Fünf Tage sind keine Woche (Five Days Isn’t a Week) / Castle Dillingen, Germany 100 Jahre Saarbrücken (100 years Saarbrücken) / City Art Gallery / Saarbrücken, Germany

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Neda 2012 / Acrylic on canvas / 150 x 100 cm

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Xanax This series began in Tehran in October 2011

Mother? Why hanging? Why war? These diet

with seven paintings and now consists

pills are really good! Where is Shiva? Why are

of thirteen works. Following a short break,

these TV advertisements about products such

I painted portraits of Michael Jackson

as Viagra constantly appearing? Did Michael

and Pinocchio at the Yumbo Center in Gran

Jackson have a nose job? Why hanging?

Canaria as well as at the Annual Carousel

Why hanging? Why hanging? The loving angel

in Germany.

tells Pinocchio to lie. Dear lady, please buy

I began the series in a closed and contrasted

these plasters. What a moll!”

environment; in an atmosphere between

After this I threw my painting on the ground

tradition and modernity, from within ‘the family’

and stamped on it. I cried until I grew tired.

and a traditional society, whose youth speak

I changed the music. Then I got lost

of the film ‘Antichrist’.

in the yellow and purple holes. Crying

A mother who names her son after Cyrus

and screaming could be heard. I asked

the Great. His grandmother claims that when

Amir to wear the pantyhose that I bought

he is fully grown, he will bring back justice.

from Shahr-e-Rey while lying on the mattress

There is no harmony between the picture

and twirling his moustache.

that we see and the sounds that we hear.

“Dad, aren’t you tired of watching the repetitive

Neda says that she has liked Arabic dance

news on VOA and BBC? Aren’t you tired

since she was a child, but now her husband

of seeing 22 people running after a ball

won’t let her dance. Her Faravahar necklace

in 45-minute halves?” “No my dear!”

swings permanently in front of my eyes.

Ali said: “let us fly to Gran Canaria.

Sogand tells me that she feels better since

You will be more relaxed. What’s wrong

she started taking Xanax. She talks about the

with you? Why can’t you calm down?”

pleasures of sex and her own experiences.

At night, we went to the Yumbo Center, where

She says sex is as enjoyable for her as

men wore women’s dresses, put make up on

eating steak with mushroom sauce! Nowadays

and danced. The freakier they were, the larger

high-heeled boots have been declared an erotic

an audience they drew in to the clubs.

article, but she wears four-inch heels.

“Ali, I feel dizzy. At night when I am sleeping,

Parties with homemade schnapps. These days,

I feel as though I am riding on

Jahangir talks about the economy, which is in

a big wheel. I hear the voices of circus

crisis. He speaks of the rising Dollar and Euro

people in my head. I dream constantly

rate, the price of gold and the sanctions.

about the night when we bought a gun

I crawled into my atelier, placed the colours on

for five Euro and shot at dolls to win the white,

to my mixing palette and turned the music up.

scatty, teddy bear with “Love You”

Tanbur... Tanbur... Tanbur… The voices were

written on it’s tummy. I’m so dizzy!!”

going through my head. “Why did Golshifteh pose nude? Now, what about her movie

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Maryam Iran Panah

Xanax 2012 / Acrylic on canvas / 100 x 150 cm

105

Maryam Iran Panah

Amir 2012 / Acrylic on canvas / 100 x 150 cm

106

Happy Birthday Kourosh 2012 / Acrylic on canvas / 100 x 150 cm

Jahangir 2012 / Acrylic on canvas / 150 x 100 cm -opposite page-

107

Maryam Iran Panah

M A H M O U D

MA H ROUM I

110

Mahmoud Mahroumi Lives and works in Tehran B. 1976

Mahmoud Mahroumi graduated with a BA in Sculpture in 2004 from the Faculty of Fine Art Tehran University, Iran.

Solo Exhibitions 2008

Stipulation / Ave Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran

Group Exhibitions 2012

2011

2007

2003

2002

2001

2000

Farvahar Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran Group Exhibition at the Belgian Embassy, curated by Emad / Tehran, Iran 6th Sculpture Biennial / Tehran, Iran 4th Sculpture Biennial / Tehran, Iran 3rd Sculpture Biennial / Tehran, Iran 3rd Conceptual Art Exhibition / Tehran Fine Art University / Tehran, Iran 2nd Conceptual Art Exhibition / Contemporary Art Museum of Tehran / Tehran, Iran 1st Conceptual Art Exhibition / Contemporary Art Museum of Tehran / Tehran, Iran 2nd Sculpture Biennial / Tehran, Iran

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“An itch over the body or what the sculpture

These problems included the control

is demanding from me�

and discipline of the materials, the transformation of liquid to solid, interiors,

Seventeen years have passed since I made

deterioration, entropy, keeping things in order

casts for the construction of lampposts as

as well as split, modernised, totalitarian ideas.

a labourer. One of my main tasks was to ensure

Each time I tried to escape from this pattern

that the mould was sufficiently tight to secure

of itching and attempt to begin a new, different

the concrete. If the nuts and bolts fastened

game, I fell back into it in one way or another.

to the cast did not operate properly, the frame

It was as though such a snag was pleasant

would be unable to withstand the pressure

to me. I have been scratching this itch for

of the concrete, and ultimately reject the cast.

seventeen years. The huge snag has become

While working with my materials during this

a massive mould for me.

period, I experienced many problems, which ultimately paved my way.

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The Correct Way of Moulding 2011 / Concrete / 50 x 110 x 90 cm

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Mahmoud Mahroumi

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Mahmoud Mahroumi

Ah (sigh) 2012 / Concrete / 15 x 15 x 15 cm / Edition of 3

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S A N A Z

M A Z I N A N I

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Sanaz Mazinani Lives and works in Toronto and San Francisco B. 1978

Sanaz Mazinani is an artist, curator, and educator based between Toronto and San Francisco.

Born in Tehran, she holds an undergraduate degree from Ontario College of Art & Design University and an MFA from Stanford University.

Mazinani’s work explores the relationship between perception and representation by drawing on concepts such as censorship, scale, and the body as a site of action or violence.

Working primarily in photography, video and large-scale multi-media installations, her practice intersects conceptual and formal boundaries of the photographic image in response to site, sight and insight, especially in relation to digital culture.

She co-edited the book The Death of Photography (Bulger Gallery Press, 2008) and co-edited

ALMANAC (Stanford University, 2010).

She was the 2011 Visual Arts Curator for the Iranian Canadian Centre for Art & Culture’s interdisciplinary arts triennial, Tirgan. Most recently she was Guest Curator at Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University where she curated Edward Weston:

On Light, Line and Form.

Mazinani’s work has been exhibited throughout North America, including solo exhibits at Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto Image Works Gallery, Carnegie Gallery, and Art & Architecture Library at Stanford University. She has received numerous grants from Ontario Arts Council and Toronto Arts Council for the production and exhibition of her projects.

Mazinani’s artwork has been written about in Border Crossings, Nuva Luz, NOW Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle, and Dide. Mazinani’s catalogue titled Unfolding Images, which includes a foreward by Maia-Mari Sutnik and essays by Jeremiah Barber, David Fesko and Mohammadreza Mirzaei was released in May. She was recently named the Kala Art Institute Fellow for 2012.

Solo Exhibitions 2013

2012

2011

2009

2008

Sight, Site, and Insight (forthcoming) / Luggage Store Gallery / San Francisco, USA Sight, Site & Insight (forthcoming) / Gallery 44 Center for Contemporary Photography / Toronto, Canada Frames of the Visible / Stephen Bulger Gallery / Toronto, Canada Book Case / Art & Architecture Library / Stanford University, USA Iran Revisited / Toronto Image Works Gallery / Toronto, Canada Book Case / Camera / Toronto, Canada

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2005

Book Case / Carnegie Gallery / Hamilton

Group Exhibitions 2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

Abstraction in Our Time (forthcoming) / Art Gallery of Peterborough / Peterborough, Canada Border Cultures / Art Gallery of Windsor / Windsor, ON Shadow Puppets: Traces of New Documentary Practices / Welch School Galleries, Georgia State University / Atlanta, USA Occupy Bay Area / Yerba Buena Center for the Arts / San Francisco, USA Determining Domain / Intersection for the Arts / San Francisco, USA Spotlight on 40 Years: Artworks from the Canada Council Art Bank / Ottawa, Canada New Faces: Portraits from the Collection of the Canada Council Art Bank/ Jardins de Metis / Grand-Métis, Canada Public: Collective Identity | Occupied Space / University of Toronto Art Center / Toronto, Canada Spring/Break, Art Show / Old School / New York, USA In the Currents / Asian Resource Gallery / Oakland, USA Wartime Revival of the Senses / Rock Paper Scissors Collective / Oakland, USA Migrant Manifesto / Immigrant Movement International, Creative Time, and Queens Museum of Art / New York, USA STATUS! STATUS! STATUS! / Interstate Projects / Brooklyn, USA Scramble / Thomas Welton Stanford Art Gallery / Stanford University, USA Sincerely Yours / Baer Ridgway Exhibition / San Francisco, USA Do You See What I Mean? / X Ottawa Photography Festival and Culture Days / Ottowa, Canada Hogar dulce Hogar fotografia & entorno domestico / Canton Exposicion / Guatemala Picturing Power & Potential / San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery City Hall / San Francisco, USA Public Lives, Private Spaces / Alphonse Berber Gallery / Berkeley, USA Celebration / AIPAD Photography Show / The Armory / New York, USA Devil-May-Care / Thomas Welton Stanford Art Gallery / Stanford University, USA DIASPORArt / Canada Council Art Bank, Rideau Hall / Ottawa, Canada Fly with the Cage/ The Queen Gallery / Toronto, Canada Here or There / List Gallery / Toronto, Canada Review / Contact Photography Festival / Red Bull Gallery AIPAD Photography Show / The Armory / New York, USA Nuit Blanche / 401 Richmond Building / Toronto, Canada Women’s Collective Show / Transit Space / Toronto, Canada PhotoMiami: International Contemporary Art Fair / SOHO Building / Miami, USA Bibliotheca / Stephen Bulger Gallery / Toronto, Canada

120

Together We Are is made from two media sources. The work juxtaposes an image of Paris Hilton disrobing with one of a female suicide bomber as she reveals a belt of dynamite under her hejab. By co-locating the image of a famous American media personality with that of an unidentified female suicide bomber from Afghanistan, the nature of the physical acts embodied in the deceptively mirrored gestures of these two figures is exaggerated and critiqued.

Together We Are 2011 / Set of four photographs mounted on Dibond with wooden brace / 208 x 208 x 18 cm / Edition of 7

Room for Disruption 2011 / Set of four drawings, hand-made wall paper, photographs, digital screens, 2 videos, light box, gold leaf, lens, wooden shelf, and candle / Dimensions variable

123

Sanaz Mazinani

Room for Disruption Using destabilising images of war mined

pictured on the left), the lens stands in for the

from online news media outlets, this

camera, as it activates the field of vision and

installation seeks to collapse the intimations

enables the viewer to become aware of the

of the original image, thus creating a new

act of seeing. The viewer watches a video

representation of conflict.

of a candle burning. Framed by a lens,

The eleven digital displays rest on handmade

the real candle overlaps the virtual version

photo-based wall papershowing a map

of itself. The array of LED’s in the video is

of the Middle East.

a representation of the splitting of white light.

The screens flip through a variety of videos

The installation aims to challenge the

of pure colour. Their placement in the

normative relationship to the photographic

installation is to distract the viewer, while

image in defining conflict.

standing in for the experiential qualities

Room for Disruption re-mediates images drawn

of digital media.

from the media-scape.

In “Light Vision” (5 min video, with candle,

It is designed to intervene into the very

custom made wooden shelf and glass lens

‘perspectival’ frames of vision.

124

Rome / Tripoli / From the series “Conference of the Birds” 2011–2012 / Pigment print mounted to Dibond / 149 x 224 cm / Edition of 7

125

Sanaz Mazinani

Rome / Tripoli This project is named after the Persian book

attention to the dense networks of political

of poetry, The Conference of the Birds, written

activism and the mass mediated forms

by Farid ud-Din Attar in the twelfth century

communication through which images circlate.

of the Common Era.

Seen here is a group of young Libyan women

In this poem the birds of the world gather

documenting a protest in Tripoli on their mobile

together to determine who will be their king,

devices. This image is combined with

as they are without one. The wisest of these

a photograph of a single figure waving

birds suggests that they should find the

an orange flag in front of a row of riot

legendary Simorgh, a mythical Persian bird

police at an Occupy protest in Rome, Italy.

roughly equivalent to the Phoenix in Western mythology. When they finally reach the dwelling place of the Simorgh, all they find is a lake in which they see their own reflections.

The story relies on the clever word play between the words of Simorgh - a mysterious bird in Iranian mythology - and “Simorgh” meaning “thirty birds” in Persian. Over the past decade, digital communications has enabled a brand new form of activism. But this new generation of activists has also made changes to the process of decision-making. Through actions such as the human microphone and consensus at their General Assemblies, the Occupy Wall Street movement uses an open, participatory, and horizontally organised process to make decisions. Like the birds in Attar’s poem, this leaderless movement looks within and values each member as an equal voice in organising for political change.

By proposing new structures of cultural coexistence, the multiplied and mirrored images are placed in tension with each other, creating a kaleidoscopic effect that blends colour and shape. Close analysis undercuts the reference to domestic ornamentation, revealing charged images of social conflict and drawing

126

Amsterdam / Tunisia

networks of cultural coexistence.

The photographs in Conference of the Birds

These patterns reflect digital culture and

explore the political and social effects of

stand in for the networks of communication

digital culture. The complex patterns of media

that connect us.

sourced imagery documenting the Occupy

In Islamic art, ornamentation is the art

Movement (New York, Amsterdam, and Rome)

of transformation, and comes out of the

and the Arab Spring (Cairo, Sidi Bouzid, Tripoli)

Islamic preoccupation with the transitory

deftly combine images to propose new

nature of being. Daring to imagine that we

Amsterdam / Tunisia / From the series “Conference of the Birds” 2011 – 2012 / Pigment print mounted to Dibond / 149 cm diameter / Edition of 7

127

Sanaz Mazinani

can transform our world into something more beautiful, and that our current struggles are but a transitory state in our evolution towards a something more. Conference of the Birds uses this idealistic outlook, and envisions a better world. Here one can see an image of the young Tunisian fruit-seller Mohamed Bouazizi engulfed in flames, one foot lifted in a staggering step. This photograph is copied and pasted hundreds of times, alongside an image of young Occupy activists setting fake dollar bills on fire in Amsterdam/Tunisia.

The flames multiply in a salient reminder of how Bouazizi’s self-immolation was shared from cell phone to cell phone across the globe.

128

The In-Between In “Frames of the Visible,� I examine

sequentially coupling, repeating, mirroring,

the disassociation that occurs between

and multiplying my source material references

an event and its photographic record.

Islamic ornamentation, pairing traditional

Using images of war, I make collages that

Eastern and contemporary Western image

question the original image, and create

production techniques. These works examine

a new representation of conflict.

the radical ways in which individuals perceive

The geometric patterns created by

the same object with differing complexity.

129

Sanaz Mazinani

The In-Between / From the series “Frames of the Visible” 2012 / Set of four photographs mounted on Dibond with wooden brace / 157 x 214 x 18 cm / Edition of 7

P A Y AM

M O F I D I

132

Payam Mofidi Lives and works in Montréal B. 1980

Payam Mofidi is an Iranian painter and animation filmmaker born in Tehran, Iran. He graduated with a BA in Graphic Design in 2005 from Azad University in addition to receiving a degree with honours from l’Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, Paris in 2009.

Over the years, Mofidi has shown his works internationally in a number of festivals as well as solo and group exhibitions; winning the Jury’s Special Prize from ‘Rythmetic’ International Festival in 2010. More recently, together with Ila Firouzabadi, he received the M.A.I. PRIM Grant for video installation (to be realised in 2013).

Solo Exhibitions 2012

Destroyed Memories / Assar Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran

Group Exhibitions 2012

ECLECTIK 2012 / M.A.I / Montréal, Canada

The Invisible Present / Stephen Bulger Gallery / Toronto, Canada

“ville imaginaire” / Les Territoires Gallery / Montréal, Canada 2011

Pulso Iraniano Iranian Contemporary Art / Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

Iran via Video current / Thomas Erben Gallery / New York, USA

Collective Exhibition / Aubette / Strasbourg, France 2009

Group Exhibition of Painting, Gravure (etching, metal graving), and Photography / Paris, France 2006

Painting Exhibition / Aban Gallery / Tehran, Iran 2003

6th Biennial of Painting / Tehran, Iran 2001

Painting Exhibition / Tarahan Azad Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran 2000

Group Exhibition, Mural Painting and Installations / Tehran, Iran 1998-2000

Group Exhibitions at Elaheh Gallery, Laleh Gallery, Free Artist Gallery / Tehran, Iran

133

Festivals 2011

2010

Without Borders Film Festival / Spoleto, Italy Cologne Off / Official Selection / Arad Art Museum / Romania / Temps D’images / Paris, France Selection for the competition ‘Rythmetic’ International Festival French Animation Festival in the Franco-Japanese Institute / Yokohama, Japan Projection in the Short Films Evening / Prague, Czech Republic Projection in the Short Film Evening ‘Iran Vs ...’ / Istanbul, Turkey

In recent years, my artistic career has

I attempt to discover the moments when man

been focused on reality conjoined with

is inclined towards mania, (where the border

the mysterious aspects of life. I am trying

between rational and imaginative phenomena

to find artistic methods appropriate to creating

is destroyed), to create visual images using

a dreamlike and romantic atmosphere.

a series of poetic images and dreamlike

I use this atmosphere to communicate

creatures which link violence and visual beauty.

socio-political messages.

Human loneliness, dreams, fantasies,

I invented this environment to avoid talking

ideas and existentialistic pains are all themes

directly and in a straightforward manner.

which inspire me in creating my work.

Because the spectator creates a new

Messages from a system in which speaking

atmosphere belonging to him/her, he/she looks

of freedom is a crime; messages which

for a message hidden behind symbols.

were only recently deciphered.

Thus, the message has been communicated by conception as well as a reciprocal creative process.

134

?

Poeticide In a rather lethargic mood, a girl is

that one is happily lost in a sea of pure

disillusioned by the harshness of events

emotion, relinquishing any and all fatigue

that affect her life. She sees herself trapped

and exhaustion caused by daily life and just

in a constant nightmare, from which she

swim in the poetic journey devoid

cannot find an exit.

of introduction or conclusion.

The entire story revolves around dreams and

It is so refreshing for an artwork not to

memories. There are some shots in which the

demand any mindless concentration which

audience may feel that some parts are missing,

would surely diminish any creativity on the

like a piece of a dream or recall memories.

part of the viewer, and allow one to be swept

Payam Mofidi is an Iranian Artist, Filmmaker

away by the beauty of the piece and travel

and (dare I say) Poet. His film “Shaer Koshi”

back in one’s mind to the memories that

produces a harmony between arts worthy of

had given birth to all unprecedented

Wagner and John Cage, and this marriage of

and unparalleled previous beauties.

visual, poetry and sound is so well structured

Mofidi’s paintings also manage to produce

135

Payam Mofidi

unequivocal feeling of belonging in the viewer, however in a complete different manner.

With a hint of Surrealism to them, they make one feel human through portraying pain, violence and disfigurement. The scars we bare are maps of our history on this earth, and connect us with others. Our bodies, with their design flaws, are meant to feel pain, hardship, and yes they meant to bleed, decay and die, and like many before and many to come we shall weep in unison on the sight of our fellow man enduring such injustices.

These paintings ignite our imagination and make us reconnect with our most primordial selves, and that is the beauty of great works.

- Taymaz Valley

Poeticide 2010 / Video / 11 min 23 sec / 27.94 x 58.42 cm / Edition of 3 + 1 AP

136

Dead Objects Series 2011 / Mixed media on paper / 150 x 100 cm

137

Payam Mofidi

In this series of my work I document memories, illusions, desires and fears that I harbour inside. The characters and subjects of my work, real or unreal, all bring about poetic moods that are designed to present smooth moments and feelings.

Dead Objects Series 2011 / Mixed media on paper / 50 x 70 cm

Dead Objects Series 2012 / Mixed media on paper / 50 x 30 cm

139

Payam Mofidi

Dead Objects Series 2012 / Mixed media on paper / 100 x 150 cm / Edition of 1 (+ 1 60 x 80 cm etude)

B I J A N

M O O S A V I

142

Bijan Moosavi Lives and works in London B. 1983

Born in Tehran, Iran, Bijan Moosavi is a musician and media artist. The elements of video and music are crucial to his work, though sound is the main subject of his artistic creations.

His current artistic practice is based on ‘listening’. With a focus on sound cultures from his country of origin, his practice enables him to discover the relationship between people and sounds.

Since 2008, Moosavi has produced numerous music and audio-visual performances inside and outside of Iran.

Solo Exhibitions 2012

Iran Through Airwaves / Enjoy Art Space / Leeds, UK

Group Exhibitions 2010

Tehran: 1mile² / Azad Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran

Double Life of Khosrow Khosrow’s life has ups and downs.

Some days everything is nice and happy, some days everything is messy and uneasy.

Khosrow’s life goes on as long as I manipulate it.

Double Life of Khosrow 2009 / Audio, video, DV PAL, Stereo 48kHz / 11 min 41 sec / Edition 1 of 10 + 1 AP

144

Urban Ride is an autobiographical audio-visual piece about living in Tehran which reflects upon my personal experiences of living in such a metropolis through music and video.

Urban Ride 2007 / Audio, video, DV PAL, Stereo 48kHz / 5 min 51 sec / Edition 1 of 10 + 1 AP

The Sounds and the Fury 2012 / Audio, video, HD 1080p25, Stereo 48kHz / 4 x 4 m² / 6 min 10 sec / Edition 1 of 10 + 1 AP -opposite page-

145

Bijan Moosavi

The Sounds and the Fury

on a television screen holds the possibility

Following the 2009 presidential

of creating a life-changing story for the

elections in Iran, a number of protests

individuals who witnessed the event.

and demonstrations took place in major cities.

The Sound and the Fury attempts to articulate

Soon after, similar occurrences took place in

and stretch out a horrific emotional experience

other areas; with the wider region becoming

which I shared with a number of strangers

known as the “Arab Spring�.

in Tehran during 2009. This is achieved through

Thousands of video clips made by people

the medium of sound, accompanied by video

on the streets were uploaded to YouTube;

footage created by anonymous individuals

providing the only visual media available

present (which I later discovered on YouTube).

to global news channels reflecting what

The sound is created by employing field

was actually taking place.

recordings of the protests in Tehran in addition

Each frame of the images observed

to extremes of high and low frequencies,

by someone for just a few seconds

drawing on ideas of sonic weaponry.

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Bijan Moosavi

Tehran Square Mile Sound Field + Rescue

I did not initially expect to discover sounds

Platform is a sonic exploration of public

other than those of traffic. With time however,

spaces in central Tehran. The installation

unique and interesting sounds emerged which

consists of two speakers, headphones and

represented the characteristics of Tehran well.

an MP3 player which are placed in a small

These included sounds of prayer calls playing

transparent box, filled with objects from nature.

three times daily through megaphones

The intention is to draw the attention

on top of mosques across the city, drivers

of the audience to the contrast between

calling to passengers to share taxi journeys

the sound-scapes in a metropolis such

and music playing on pavements through

as Tehran, and the nature in the country, by

speakers in CD and book stores.

juxtaposing the two sounds in a gallery space.

I then produced ten sound clips, each three

First exhibited in a 2010 group exhibition

minutes long, to be played through speakers

at Azad Art Gallery in Tehran, “Tehran: 1mile²”

at the gallery as the Tehran Square Mile Sound

was a result of a collaborative project

Field. During a short trip to the green

commissioned by the Visiting Arts institute,

countryside in the north of Iran, I conducted

entitled “1mile²” which took place between

two hours of field recording from nature.

late 2009 until early 2010. The initiative

I later developed this in to five individual

intended to inspire a group of local artists,

two-minute long clips which are played

an international artist and a local ecologist

through headphones as the Rescue Platform.

to explore the cultural and ecological diversity of a certain square mile of the city through artistic engagement.

The project involved a number of excursions throughout the region. In my case, these trips resulted in three hours worth of field recording from the city.

Tehran Square Mile Sound Field + Rescue Platform 2010 / 2 loud speakers mounted on stands, mixer, CD player, MP3 player, transparent box filled with sand, rocks and leaves, headphones / Dimensions variable / Edition 1 of 5 + 1 AP

148

Iran Through Airwaves 2012 / 6 loud speakers mounted on stands, Iranian flag, clock, 6 channel sound mixer, 3 laptops, 14” monitor/screen, DVD player / 3 x 4 m² / Edition 1 of 5 + 1 AP

149

Bijan Moosavi

Iran Through Airwaves is a multi-channel

sonic components. This is a result

sound installation consisting of six of the most

of the stringent screening process imposed

popular Iranian radio stations being streamed

on musical, sonic and literary products

in to the gallery. First exhibited at

to ensure that they comply with the Islamic

Enjoy Art Space in Leeds, the installation

principles of the state following the 1979

intends to create a real-time sonic experience

revolution.

of being in public spaces in Iran. At the same

Iran Through Airwaves attempts to put this

time, Iran Through Airwaves creates a sonic

idea into practice, by examining whether

environment which reflects - while creating

the process of bringing these sounds

an impression of - the sound cultures existing

together as a collection can create

within political borders.

a distinctive atmosphere which is culturally

Audio materials and radio programmes used

reminiscent of Iran.

in the installation largely consist of the same

H A N I

N A J M

152

Hani Najm Lives and works in Tehran B. 1986

Born in Tehran, Iran | BA in Graphics | Permanent member of Iranian Painters Association | Member of the Children and Adolescent’s Book Illustrators Association | Member of the Visual Arts Development Institute | Selected as one of five best established artists at The Disposable Festival, at the Artists’ House in 2012 | Received the Second Prize at the Shamse Festival Drawing Section in 2012 | Participated in the First New Art National Festival at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Ahwaz in 2012 | Laureate of Iran’s Third Contemporary Drawing Festival at the Imam Ali Museum in 2010 | Winner of the First Prize at the First National Festival of Iranian Youth (drawing section) at the Saba Museum in 2010 | Participated in the Damoonfar Visual Arts Festival, Mellat Cinema Compound, for drawing and painting in 2010 | Participated in the Fifth Art of the Youth Festival (drawing section) at the Saba Museum in 2010 | Laureate of Iran’s Second Contemporary Drawing Festival held at the Imam Ali Museum in 2009 | Participated in the Ninth Contemporary Drawing Festival at the Atashzad Gallery in 2009 | Selected for the drawing festival Persbookart

Selected Solo Exhibitions 2012

2011

2009

Painting Exhibition / Man Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran Painting Exhibition / Haftan Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran Painting Exhibition / Sheis Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran

Selected Group Exhibitions 2011

Painting Exhibition / Saba Museum / Tehran, Iran Gallery Niavaran / Tehran, Iran Gallery Khane Honarmandan / Tehran, Iran Illustration / Laleh Gallery / Tehran, Iran

153

?

Bus 2012 / Magic marker on paper / 50 x 70 cm

154

Bus 2012 / Magic marker and pencil on paper / 50 x 70 cm

155

Hani Najm

Bus If more people took the bus, cities would

Though everyone is stationary, everything

become better places to live in. Not purely

is chaotic and in motion. The bus is a

from an environmental standpoint but also

metaphor for the current state of affairs,

as a social concern. The digital age has made

particularly mentally.

travelling unnecessary. The bus is one of the

Where are they headed? “There are different

last social spaces that can possibly represent

stations,” says Najm “status, power, greed.”

a community. Riding the bus is a time during

Those who are not happy with their

which Hani Najm observes people. His drawings

circumstances are transformed by their desires

depict the passengers sitting wearily or holding

into a fox, a snake or an insect. Those who

on to the bar.

are content will reach the final stop; what

With their varying personalities the passengers

Najm refers to as the Village of Love.

are packed in to a closed space, clutching to a

Najm paints a picture of what exists and what

bar and feeling lost. The colours are warm and

is missing. The figures confront us profoundly.

the forms are simplified, intensifying the sense

They intrude in our space and scrutinise us.

of desperation in trying to hold on. Those who

“Near but Far” reminds us to observe and

are calm seem mostly weary.

investigate, for it is this that makes us ‘alive’.

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Hani Najm

Bus 2012 / Magic marker on paper / 100 x 150 cm

M O H A M M A D H A S S A N

N I K B A K H T

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Mohammad Hassan Nikbakht Lives and works in Tehran B. 1982

Mohammad Hassan Nikbakht received his BA in Painting from Elm o Farhang University, Tehran in 2009.

He is a member of the Society of Iranian Painters (SIP) and the Institute for Promotion of Visual Arts in Iran.

Solo Exhibitions 2010

Mushrooms Series / Siin Gallery / Tehran, Iran

Group Exhibitions 2012

2011

2009

2008

The 8th National Biennial of Iranian Contemporary Painting / Saba Gallery / Tehran, Iran Members of the Society of Iranian Painters Exhibition / Iranian Artists Forum / Tehran, Iran The First Painting Annual Exhibition of Iranian Artists Forum / Iranian Artists Forum / Tehran, Iran Members of the Society of Iranian Painters Exhibition / Contemporary Art Museum / Esfahan, Iran 3rd Festival of Contemporary Sketching of Iran / Imam Ali Museum / Tehran, Iran Contemporary & New Generation Painting Exhibition / Barg Gallery / Tehran, Iran 2nd Festival of Contemporary Drawing of Iran (Second View) / Mellat Gallery / Tehran, Iran 4th Competition of New Generation Festival / Homa Gallery & Mellat Gallery / Tehran, Iran The 7th National Biennial of Iranian Contemporary Painting / Saba Gallery / Tehran, Iran 1st Visual Symposium of the City / Imam Ali Museum / Tehran, Iran 3rd Competition of New Generation Festival Homa Gallery / Niyavaran Palace / Tehran, Iran

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Mushrooms Series 2010 / Oil on canvas / 100 x 100 cm

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Mushrooms Series 2010 / Oil on canvas / 100 x 100 cm

Mushrooms Series 2010 / Oil on canvas / 100 x 120 cm -opposite page-

Mushrooms Series

highlights and low lights seem never ending.

Our time is one in which strange and ironic

The Braille script not only contains meaning,

things happen. In countries like ours, these

but also creates embossing and points

contradictions show themselves as places,

resembling ancient signs or computer

people, and all opposites. Past, present, inside,

punch lines.

and outside‌

Mushrooms are dependent plants, and their

Mohammad Hassan Nikbakht creates peculiar

shapes are reminiscent of atomic explosions.

and ironic, but at the same time simple,

The link between these two definitions would

elements in a pleasant and relaxed

be interpreted either intellectually or just

environment; elements such as mushrooms

simply, but the easiness of the meaning

and Braille, and a world in which delicate

and the trance mood of his works have

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Mohammad Hassan Nikbakht

a great impact on the mind of the audience mind, where it remains. Nikbakht has replied back to all contradictions in complete peace and with open arms. Or maybe he is simply asking a humble question‌though massively tragic!

- Dr. Behnam Kamrani

A N A H I T A

N O R O U Z I

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Anahita Norouzi Lives and works in Montréal B. 1983

Anahita Norouzi is an Iranian born, Montréal based artist. She received her BFA in Graphic Design from Sooreh University of Tehran in 2007. Norouzi is currently completing a Masters of Fine Arts in Photography at Concordia University.

Norouzi’s practice engages with a variety of media, but primarily photography and video.

Through merging the images and voices of personal experiences with the socio-cultural reflections, Norouzi’s work revolves primarily around the idea of questioning the representation of the position one holds as a minority within a socio-political system.

The dialogue thus created stems from the cultural and social phenomena, which is extended to one’s everyday life.

Selected Refereed and Group Exhibitions 2012

14 / Stewart Hall Gallery / Montréal, Canada

Sortie / Ecole des Beaux-arts / Montréal, Canada

Recognized in ‘Le Festival des Arts de Montréal’ / Montréal, Canada 2010

New Folder 1 / Silk Road Gallery / Tehran, Iran

Tehran, Virtual or Real? / Aaran Gallery / Tehran, Iran 2009

Baz In Che Shuresh Ast / Silk Road Gallery /Tehran, Iran

Appropriation Allowed / Aaran Gallery / Tehran, Iran 2007

Sachsenhausen & Stone Garden / Khak Gallery / Tehran, Iran 2006 - 2008

Recognised in the 10th and 11th Biennial of Tehran Photography / Tehran, Iran

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Tehran, The Apocalypse 2012 / Video / 8 min 36 sec / Edition of 3 + 1 AP

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Tehran, The Apocalypse The question of “violence” is not a new issue;

as a citizen-artist who is socio-psychologically

all Iranians have somehow experienced it;

a result of such a society, attempt to push

be it in a subjective or objective way.

my limits. This is achieved experimentally

The gradual process of imposing violence

by placing myself in a situation in which

towards society has been valorized and

I examine my capability to involve myself

institutionalized through political authorities

in the act of reproducing violence at

and religious practices as well as Iranians’

an ultimate level; a level which is beyond

socio-historical experience. What is crucial

my capacity to tolerate. The public sphere

to note, is the increasing metastasization

(here, a national park) is a ground which

of the violence and its interjection into the

provides me with the opportunity to regard

core of the citizens’ lives. The occurrences

myself again.

in “Seadat Abad – Meidan Kaj”* is evidence

Art is representational; however there

this very process. Society constantly vents

is a difference between representing and

outside pressure within itself, which in turn

reproducing. In this work, I intended to reduce

causes a gradual transformation of citizens

the gap between the two as little as possible,

into reproducing machines of violence.

in order to re-present the subject as overtly as

Disregarding the active (murderer) or the

possible (which itself is an ultimate matter).

passive (observer) roles of citizens in such

“I”, as a citizen, am transformed in to the

circumstances, the displacement of the space

producer of such a degree of violence;

of violence - from private to public - indicates

when just a few minutes earlier I was

the fact that violence has turned into

completely unaware of what I would be

a conventional, formulaic, and over-simplified

capable of carrying out.

phenomenon. As a result, we are faced with a collective passivity with a structure and

*A man stabbed and killed another man

ethics which stem from its prime essence;

in front of a large crowd. Passers-by

a society in which morality is paralysed.

recorded the scene on mobile phone

This work is not video art but rather the

cameras and passively watched the

documentation of a performance in which I,

victim bleed to death.

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Anahita Norouzi

Tehran, The Apocalypse 2012 / Video / 8 min 36 sec / Edition of 3 + 1 AP

170

Emigrating to Where ‘I’ Dwells 1 Every year, thousands of people leave their homelands with the hope of reaching a lost paradise where they can experience all that is lacking in their own countries. One is forced to endure a great deal of emotional difficulty in order to obtain freedom, opportunity and he possibility a better life. In this project, I question emigration as a continual and eroding process, as well as examine the efforts of immigrants’ to tolerate the pressure associated with fitting in to a new society.

Emigrating to Where ‘I’ Dwells 1 2011 / Two-channel video installation / 5 min 50 sec

171

Anahita Norouzi

Emigrating to Where ‘I’ Dwells 2 2011 / Two-channel video installation / 5 min 50 sec / Edition of 3 + 1 AP

F O A D

R A H N AM A

174

Foad Rahnama Lives and works in Tehran B. 1982

Born in Iran | 2004 Received a BA in Photography from the University of Art, Iran | 2009 Received a MA in Photography from the University of Art, Iran | 2012 Artistic lecture and workshop at the Iranian Youth Cinema Society, Sanandaj, Iran | 2010-2011 Teacher of Photography at University of Elmi-karbordi, Qazvin, Tehran | 2011 Received the First Prize at the First Iranian Fine Arts Photo Festival | 2008-2009 Received an Honourable Mention at the 11th Iranian National Photo Biennial, Tehran/ Yazd, Iran | 2008 Received the Second Prize at the 3rd Art University Photo Festival | 2006 Received an Honourable Mention & Special Prizeat the 10th Iranian National Photo Biennial

Group Exhibitions 2011

The First Iranian Fine Arts Photo Festival / Tehran, Iran 2008 - 2009

The 11th Iranian National Photo Biennial / Tehran, Iran 2008

The 3rd Art University Photo Festival / Tehran, Iran 2006

The 10th Iranian National Photo Biennial / Tehran, Iran

175

On the Road 2010 / Photography / 18.6 x 45 cm / Edition 1 of 5

176

On the Road In movies portraying road trips, the passenger often changes during the journey.

Is this the nature of travel?

Or do the changes come first, encouraging the person to then step on to the road?

Each contains its own elements, however the main aspect is the road; the place which allows the journey to take place.

Where is this aspect? On the road?

Or in the events which take place on them?

Does the typical loneliness of the passenger lead to these situations through the changes of scenery? We should step on to the road to find the answer.

On the Road 2010 / Photography / 18.6 x 45 cm / Edition 1 of 5

177

Foad Rahnama

These photos reference the work of Carleton Watkins. Watkins is considered a pioneer of road photography; with his use of orange frames and dual presentation in the 18th century documenting the establishment of the American railway.

These photos also reference the New Topographers of the 1960’s and 1970’s such as Robert Frank and their somewhat deadpan aesthetics.

178

179

Foad Rahnama

The earth, standing on it

For me, the earth is still an enigma.

These photos represent a form of response to its paradoxical beauty.

They are my silence to the soil.Silence is full of wisdom, humility, contemplation and meditation. It is full of unanswerable questions; of quiet and tranquillity.

Like aGnostic, full of wisdom in silence, the earth’s surface aroused me.

These photos are silent, and ask us to be silent. Listen, instead of speaking.

The earth, standing on it 2008 / Photography / 21.8 x 30 cm / Edition 1 of 5

180

Freedamn Portraits represent the characteristics of a generation. They can express the history of a region and the corners of a society, as well as the structures of them. Further, racial and genetic characteristics can be found in portraits. In addition to possessing documentary and anthropological aspects, they refer to photography as a medium.

Can portraits show spiritual and internal parts of subjects, or is photography just a mental phenomenon from physical phenomena?

I asked people to think about freedom.

While they were thinking, I took a photograph of them.

Can you see freedom in these photos?

Can you see the free people?

Yes? Maybe!

Maybe with these photos you can see the freedom, feel it, touch it.

What’s freedom?

What is the opinion of the people in these photos?

What’s your idea?

Think.

Please think about it.

Please.

Freedamn 2011 / Photography / 25 x 16.6 cm / Edition 1 of 5

181

Foad Rahnama

B E H N A M

S A D I G H I

184

Behnam Sadighi Lives and works in Sari B. 1979

2008 Received a BA in Photography from the Faculty of Fine Art, University of Tehran, Iran | 2012–Present Photography instructor at Professional Photography School, Tehran, Iran | 2012–Present Photography instructor at Tehran Technical Complex, Iran | 2011–Present Photography instructor at the Free Education Centre at Tehran University, Iran | 2012 Photography instructor at University Of Applied Science And Technology, Sari, Iran | 2009–2011 Photography instructor at Mazyar High Education Institute, Nour, Iran | 2003–2008 Photojournalist for Culture & Research magazine, Jam E Jam newspaper, Ayandeh No Newspaper and Soureh Photo Agency

Solo Exhibitions 2011

2010

2009

2004

Ekbatan, West of Tehran / Faryad Gallery / Kerman, Iran Ekbatan, West of Tehran / Gallery of Hoze Honari / Shiraz, Iran Ekbatan, West of Tehran / Gallery of Hoze Honari Guilan / Rasht, Iran Ekbatan, West of Tehran / Aria Gallery / Tehran, Iran Life in Bam / Gallery of Iranian Artist Forum / Tehran, Iran

Selected Group Exhibitions 2012

2011

2010

2008

2007

2006

Art Takes Times Square/ Billboard Presentation / New York, USA Saba Photo / East Khial and Ayeneh Galleries / Tehran, Iran National Museum of Fine Art / Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan Presence/ Aria Gallery/ Tehran, Iran Mohsen Gallery / Tehran, Iran Photography and Installation / Boomerang Art Gallery / Tehran, Iran Portrait in Photography and Painting / Molaeian Gallery / Babol, Iran Self Portrait of Photographers / Gallery of Iranian Photographers Center / Tehran, Iran Nowrouz / Laleh Gallery / Tehran, Iran

185

Selected Awards 2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

1st Prize / 4th Mashhad National Photo Festival / Mashhad, Iran 1st Prize / 2nd Hamrahan Festival / Rasht, Iran Final Prize / 3rd Photo Festival of Islamic Azad University / Tehran, Iran 2nd Prize / Festival of Iranian Young Cinema Society / Oroumieh, Iran 3rd Prize / Firouzeh Festival / Tabriz, Iran 2nd Prize / Black and White Festival / Tehran, Iran 3rd Prize / Festival of Travelling with Train / Tehran, Iran 3rd Prize / For Better Life Festival / Tehran, Iran 1st Prize / Tehran’s Film and Photo Festival of Students / Iran 1st Prize / Environment Contest / Tehran, Iran 2nd Prize / Health Photo Contest / Iran 3rd Prize / Documentary Photo Contest of Iran / Isfahan, Iran Honourable Mention / Kaveh Golestan Press Photo Contest / Tehran, Iran 3rd Prize / Annual Photo Contest of Iran / Rasht, Iran 1st Prize / Abrang Festival / Mashhad, Iran 1st Prize / Palms of Hope Festival / Tehran, Iran 2nd Prize / Festival of Iranian Young Cinema Society / Qazvin, Iran 2nd Prize / Annual Photo Contest of Iran / Rasht, Iran 1st Prize / Humour Festival of Hozeye Honari / Tehran, Iran 1st Prize / Ghasedak haye Soukhteh / Tehran, Iran 1st Prize / Our City Photo Contest / Tehran, Iran

Publications 2010

Ekbatan, West of Tehran / From the EYE Books series/ Mahriz Publication (English/Persian)

186

Ekbatan, West of Tehran In this project, I try to express my intuitions

unique to this population. As a result of being

and feelings regarding living conditions for

exasperated by one another, inhabitants

modern citizens in Ekbatan, one of the largest

choose to live solitary lives despite inhabiting

housing estates in the Middle East, located

the same cells.

in the West of Tehran.

City-dwellers who engage in this type of life

Ekbatan’s vast landscape is inhabited

are exposed to circumstances in which they

by over one hundred thousand residents;

are not meeting - and thus not listening to

the housing estate considered to be

- one another. This lifestyle is not what they

an example of where ‘modern citizens’ live.

desire, but it has become compulsory. In this

Residents develop relationships which are

way, a tendency is developed for a population

187

Behnam Sadighi

to avoid one another and become characteristically insular. In this case, the distance of a person from his environment (where all human elations occur) equates to the thick, concrete walls which have surrounded - and separated - him from a society in which a person sees no one other than himself.

Ekbatan, West of Tehran 2007 / Gelatin silver print / 40 x 60 cm / Edition 2 of 5 + 1 AP

188

Holidays 2010–2012 / C-print / 80 x 100 cm / Edition 1 of 5 + 1 AP

189

Behnam Sadighi

Holidays In this documentary project, I focus on a group of Iranian youths who travel together to be in nature for a couple of days, where they can pass their holiday in calmness.

Despite choosing a deserted location, they sense that something is wrong; that something is not under their control. It seems as though they have brought their boredom with them and this in turn has an effect on their relationships as well as the nature surrounding them.

190

191

Behnam Sadighi

The Last Day This ongoing series looks at the emmigration of Iranian youths to distant countries; aspiring to find a better situation and lead a successful life. They leave their own country; not to experience new things, but as a form of evacuation, like those who are flood-stricken and forced to seek refuge in a foreign land.

This is a daily experience; visiting young students who are trying desperately to leave their country; some wishing to pursue their educational goals and others seeking permanent residency abroad.

This project presents their last portraits; taken before they leave their motherland, as a memory for them to hold, of a land that they may never see again.

The Last Day 2011–2012 / C-print / 80 x 100 cm / Edition 1 of 5 + 1 AP

P A RH AM

T A G H I O F F

194

Parham Taghioff Lives and works in Tehran B. 1978

I live in a country where characters of the past are written all over our culture.

These characters have been penciled over with new characters, so as to conceal them well from those who may otherwise be able to decipher them. For everything which is hidden, there is now a copy of it which is visible. I always try to deal with the complexities and hidden aspects of my homeland and its culture.

Parham graduated from New York Institute of Photography in 2009; and was awarded a Master Photographer Regnant Diploma, with an Honourary Degree of Excellence, by the Institute of American Image Press and the IFPO in 2005.

He is represented by Aun Gallery, Tehran, Iran.

Solo Exhibitions 2012

2010

2005

2003

Photo and Video Art Exhibition / Aun Gallery / Tehran, Iran Solo Conceptual Art Exhibition / Aun Gallery / Tehran, Iran Solo Performance Art Exhibition / Khak Gallery / Tehran, Iran Solo Performance Art Exhibition / Arte’ Gallery / Tehran, Iran

Group Exhibitions 2011

2010

2009

2008

2005

Jamm Art Auction and Exhibition / Kuwait Alive, The Beat of Young Iranian Artists / Frieze Art Fair / London, UK Alive, The Beat of Young Iranian Artists, Beauchamp Club / London, UK Photo Exhibition of Iranian Contemporary Artists / Italian School of Tehran / Tehran, Iran After Revolution, Photo Exhibition / San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery / San Francisco, USA Photo Exhibition / Silk Road Gallery / Tehran, Iran Photo Exhibition / Maan e Honar e No / Tehran, Iran Photo Exhibition / Fort Collins Museum of Contemporary Art (The Center for Fine Art Photography) / Fort Collins, USA Photo Exhibition / Khak Gallery / Tehran, Iran

195

2004

2003

1999

Regard de Traverse (Video Installation Art) / Strasbourg, France Photo Exhibition / Niavaran Artistic Creations / Tehran, Iran Photo Exhibition / Niavaran Artistic Creations / Tehran, Iran Photo Exhibition / Silk Road Gallery / Tehran, Iran 1st Photography Exhibition of 40 Photographers / Iranian House Of Cinema / Tehran, Iran

Prizes and Awards 2007

2004

2003

2002

NYIP and New York State Educational Department Award of Merit for outstanding photo projects Lifetime Distinction of Honour for photographic achievement from The Institute of American Image Press and the IFPO NYIP and New York State Educational Department Award of Merit for outstanding photo projects Recognized by IFPO & AIP as a Master Photographer 1st Prize Winner, International Photo Contest, New York Institute of Photography 2nd Prize Winner, ‘Enduring Peace’ Photo Contest (Red Crescent Society photo contest and exhibition)

196

Untitled / From the Bookmark (Imposed War) Series 2012 / Inkjet print on archival paper / 39.8 x 60 cm, 70 x 90 cm with frame / AP 1 of 5 + 2 AP

197

Parham Taghioff

Untitled / From the Bookmark (Imposed War) Series The camera obscura transforms the way we engage with physical reality; it stands between the viewer and the work.

It shapes reality according to its own rules, and somehow grafts the concept of obedience onto a body which can be manipulated while interweaving control with analysable bodies.

The photographs engage with political and social issues, and are rediscovered as both the object and the target of power. They are manipulated and exploited. The present collection leafs through these issues reproduced through a dark chamber.

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Acknowledgements Amal Abouelkassem Dr. Hani Abu Auida Philippa Adams Dr. Ziba Ardalan Zeina Arida Art Dubai The Art Newspaper Fereydoun Ave Negar Azimi David Barnett Canvas Antonia Carver Mat Collishaw Fereshteh Daftari Delfina Foundation Farbod Dowlatshahi Dr. Anthony Downey Maryam Eisler Shadi Fahid Media Farzin Freight Systems Ashraf Gomaa Harriet Gordon Harper’s Bazaar Art Arabia Mohammad Hasham Firouz Ehsan Hosseini Borna Izadpanah Raza Jafar Alison Jenkins Sara Kalantari

Fatemeh Kazemi Ali Khadra Sahar Khajeh MAG Group Vali Mahlouji Priya Mathew Michael Michael Arsalan Mohammad Colin Morris Arash Moslehi Mohammad Mottahedan Kimberly Muza Goli Nili Venetia Porter Michael Rakowitz Sogol Razi Irit Rogoff Seyed Azin Roshan Seyed Hassan Roshan Ramin Salsali Hamid Severi Payam Sharifi Ali Sobati Asal Sobati Noor Soussi Abolfazl Talooni Ben Tomlinson Danish Vattoly Vinod Vishnuembrandri Mohammad Yarand

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Special Thanks MOP is indebted to HE Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, for his distinguished role in facilitating the work of MOP in the UAE and his infinite support of MOP’s mission to promote Iranian art and culture.

Ali Bakhtiar, of Ali Bakhtiar Design, has generously donated his unique vision to this exhibition by creating a lavish, one-of-a-kind deliberation room for the judging panel.

Saghi Oushal, of Chelsea Interiors and Consultancy, has dedicated her time and expertise by assisting Magic of Persia to find the most appropriate venue for the exhibition.

ENSHAA and MAG Group have made this project possible by hosting the exhibition in their new building development, the EFT (Emirates Financial Towers) in DIFC. The design of the exhibition has been expertly executed by Morris Associates, the internationally recognised, award winning design practice.

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Imprint This catalogue has been published on the occasion of the Magic of Persia Contemporary Art Prize Shortlist Exhibition 2013 Trustees Shirley Elghanian - Chairman of the Board of Trustees Shirin Elghanayan - Secretary of the Board of Trustees Vajihe Soleymani - Treasurer of the Board of Trustees Asal Sobati - Trustee Farbod Dowlatshahi - Trustee Committee Sara Ameri - Executive Royal Liaison Shirley Elghanian - Chief Executive Harriet Gordon - Administrative Director Nikki Meftah - Press Manager Fereshte Moosavi - Art Director Sharareh Naghibi - Bookkeeper/Treasurer Noor Soussi - Intern Alexandra Terry - Art Director and Curator

Works not exhibited

Catalogue design by: Sahar Khajeh MA Graphic Design / Kingston University sahar.khajeh@yahoo.com www.saharkhajeh.com Printed by Veracor Printing www.veracorprinting.com Magic of Persia 16A Lowndes Square, London, SW1X 9HB, UK T: +44 (0) 207 235 8026, F: +44 (0) 207 259 6417 E: Shirley@magicofpersia.com W: www.magicofpersia.com, www.mopcap.com

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Index Acknowledgements Djabbari, Claudia Exhibition Programme Esfandiyari, Shima Farajiani, Negar Fayez, Arash Feizabadi, Azin Fozouni, Farhad Hanaei, Arash Hosseini, Farzaneh Imprint Iran Panah, Maryam Judging Panel Magic of Persia Magic of Persia Contemporary Art Prize Mahroumi, Mahmoud Mazinani, Sanaz Mofidi, Payam Moosavi, Bijan Najm, Hani Nikbakht, Mohammad Hassan Norouzi, Anahita Rahnama, Foad Sadighi, Behnam Selection Committee Shortlist Special Thanks Taghioff, Parham WHAT DOES ART DO

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