Encyclopædia Iranica Exhibition of Iranian Art

Opening Reception   Thursday, June 23    6 - 8 pm

The exhibition continues through June 28, 2011 @ Leila Heller Gallery (LTMH)

Sadegh Tabrizi, Untitled, 2009, Oil on canvas, 23.6 x 23.6 in / 60 x 60 cm

 

Premiere viewing of the Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation's collection of magnificent work by four generations of Iranian artists, who, for many years now, have enthusiastically supported the Encyclopaedia Iranica Foundation in its efforts to foster and promote Iranian cultural heritage.

Nicky Nodjoumi, Untitled, 2007, Gesso and gouache on paper, 

28.5 x 27.5 in / 72.4 x 69.9 cm

 Shirin Neshat, Games of Desire, Photography with original handwriting, 11 x 14 in / 27.9 x 35.6 cm

 

The exhibition includes work by:

Nasrollah Afjei, Armond Ayvazian, Assurbanipal Babilla, Sima Chakamian, Bahram Dabiri, Iran Darroudi, Siamak Davarpanah, Mehdi Ebrahimian, Hossein Edalatkhah, Mohammad Ehsai, Eran Far, Mohammad Reza Firouzei, Hengameh Fouladvand, Nahid Haghighat, Parviz Kalantari, Marjan Karim, Hosayn Mahjoubi, Cyrus Malek, Mehdi Mansouri, Ramin Mehdinejad, Masoumeh Moradi, Mina Nouri, Niki Nodjoumi, Shirin Neshat,  Farah Ossouli, Nasser Ovissi, Shakiba Parvaresh, Payandeh Shahndeh-Djahan, Sudi Sharafshahi, Gizella Varga Sinai, Sadegh Tabrizi, Sepideh Sahar, Afsaneh Taebi, Mohammad Ali Taraghijah, Habib Tohidi, Ahmad Vosuq Ahmadi, and Adel Yunesi.

For further information please contact Anahita at anahita@ltmhgallery.com.

Via Encyclopædia Iranica

 

The Delfina Foundation Open call for Iranian artists in partnership with Magic of Persia and in collaboration with the V&A Museum

The Delfina Foundation has announced a new residency opportunity in London as part of its ongoing partnership with Magic of Persia (MOP).

Previously, DELFINA and MOP have joined forces to offer opportunities for artists associated with the Magic of Persia Contemporary Art Prize (MOP CAP). Next year, in addition to providing residencies for a few select MOP CAP artists, DELFINA and MOP are creating an opportunity for Iranian artists to apply directly to DELFINA through an open call process.

This residency offers a career-defining opportunity for an emerging to mid-career Iranian artist, aged 25 or over, to undertake an 8-week residency in London in February/March 2012 (dates to be confirmed upon selection). In a unique collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), the successful applicant will be given the opportunity to create a new work, to be showcased as part of the V&A's ‘Friday Late' night event coinciding with Nowrūz (Persian New Year) on the 30 March 2012.

The ideal candidate will have a performance or site-specific, installation-based practice that could respond to the V&A's extraordinary architecture or extensive collections. Although not a requirement, there may be opportunities for collaborative work with other artists and audiences.

For more information and to download an application form, please click here.

Closing date for applications: 25th July 2011, 5pm.

 Via  The Delfina Foundation and Magic of Persia

The (Iranian) Weltanschauung - Aesthetics within ideological constrains

Exhibition June 17th -  July 30th @ Freies Museum Berlin 

Curated by Shaheen Merali in collaboration with Azad Art Gallery, Tehran

If it were possible to draw a map of contemporary Iran on the basis of Weltanschauung, it would probably be seen as an end product that considers the many factors and common experiences of a people from this geographical region, including its borders and the conditions imposed by the ever tightening economic resources available to its population, as they remain under the constraints of a political embargo. How this effects its socio-cultural systems, and the linguistic family, its political valency and general environment is an important point to evaluate in terms of how artists, as an important group of makers, visualise the order of their lives and values. 

Translating the untranslatable and connoting the denoted……….

Some exhibition titles reflect, rather than qualify, an anticipation of a visual exercise executed within the public realm. Titles remain a portal through which to excite viewership and to provide an entrance to a space, which has been made into a place of art, artists and artworks. In this manner, The (Iranian) Weltanschauung, was created by the idea of the formulation of geographical boundaries, implicit in our loss of knowledge about its contemporary state, inviting us to regard this nation once more, through the notations of several artists. Its subtitle, aesthetics within ideological constraints, in many ways serves as an adjunct to break down this acculturated main title, providing a qualified summary of the exhibition’s true resolve. In making exhibitions, one hopes to assist in the formulation of cohesive thoughts in these pressing times and to further the comprehension of artistic innovations from specific contexts’. 

To paraphrase the great poet Hafiz, ‘What we speak becomes the house where we live...’

The (Iranian) Weltanschauung is the third curated exhibition by Shaheen Merali at the Freies Museum, Berlin and is realised in collaboration with the Azad Gallery, the only artists run space in Tehran, Iran. The exhibition on the three floors of the Freies Museum, “allows for a comprehensive viewing of artists’ concerns and use of materials and mediums” and in turn allows to sustain this substantial interpretation, knowledge and experience within Berlin’s and Europe’s community(s) of an important and emerging artistic community; a strategy the curator explains as similar to that of the previous two exhibitions, Three Voices in My Head (April-May 2010) and Twice is too much (Sept-Oct 2010) which also highlighted a politicised aesthetic within the arts.

As Guest in our Projektraum: Show Business is the Only Business // Janosch Parker

Show Business is the Only Business is a series of Performance / Sculptures from the young German-American artist, Janosch Parker. Mechanical apparatuses come together with cotton candy, dough, yogurt, or other primordial substances to collaborate with the protagonist in his search for security and isolation. He rotates through absurd installations and completes self-imposed exercises. Combined with the iconic presentation of the work, the experience of a car wash  or a motorcycle track scenario conveys the idea of a tragic hero. 

Show Business is the Only Business is on display at the project space of the Freies Museum Berlin. For further information or images please contact Sara-Lena Maierhofer from the Freies Museum.

Artists: Mehraneh Atashi, Navid Azimi Sajadi, Mahmood Bakhshi, Masoumeh Bakhtiary, Majid Fathizadeh, Parastou Forouhar, Farhad Fozouni Ghazaleh Hedayat, Taha Heydary, Malody Hosainzadeh, Katayoun Karami, Aria Kasai, Majid Koorang Beheshti, Azadeh Madani, Amir Mobed, Mehran Mohajer, Masoumeh Mozafari, Homan Nobakht, Sara Roohisefat, Atefeh Samaei, Rozita Sharafjahan, Mohamad M. Tabatabai

.......................................................................................................

Ausstellungsdauer: 17. Juni bis 30. Juli 2011

Kuratiert von Shaheen Merali in Zusammenarbeit mit der Azad Gallery, Teheran

Gespräch mit Kurator Shaheen Merali am 16. Juni um 19.30 Uhr

Würde man eine Landkarte des heutigen Iran auf der Basis seiner Weltanschauung entwerfen, wäre diese ein Produkt verschiedener Einflüsse und alltäglicher Erfahrungen der Menschen dieser geografischen Region, einschließlich ihrer Grenzen. Sie wär gezeichnet von den der Bevölkerung auferlegten Konditionen, die geprägt sind von immer geringer werdenden ökonomischen Ressourcen durch die Beschränkungen des Politischen Embargos. Wir stellen uns die Frage, wie diese Lebensumstände das soziokulturelle System, die linguistische Familie, seine politische Wertigkeit und das allgemeine Umfeld beeinflussen.

Dies ist notwendig, um einschätzen zu können, wie Künstler, als active gesellschaftsprägende Elemente, ihre Ordnung von Leben und Werten visualisieren.

Das Nicht-Übersetzbare wird übersetzt, das Angedeutete erhält Bedeutung…

Einige Ausstellungstitel reflektieren eher eine Erwartung der visuellen Erfahrung innerhalb der Öffentlichkeit, als dass sie diese einschränken. Im Grunde haben sie die Aufgabe das Interesse des Betrachters zu wecken und Zugang zu einen Raum, der Kunst, Künstler und Kunstwerke zu schaffen. In diesem Sinne entspringt die Idee, mit dem Ausstellungstitel

Die (Iranische) Weltanschauung eine geografische Grenze zu formulieren, der Erkenntnis, dass wir über den heutigen Zustand dieser Region kaum Wissen besitzen. Wir sind eingeladen diese Nation durch die Erzählweisen von Künstlern erneut zu betrachten.

Der Untertitel Aesthetics within ideological constrains ergänzt und entschlüsselt den kulturaneignend erscheinenden Haupttitel in mehrerlei Hinsicht und bietet so eine geeignete Zusammenfassung des wahren Anliegens dieser Ausstellung. Durch eine Ausstellung erhofft man sich in diesen bedrückenden Zeiten die Formulierung von zusammenhängenden Gedanken zu fördern und das Verständnis von künstlerischen Neuerungen spezifischer Kontexte voranzubringen.

Mit den Worten des großen Dichter Hafiz: “What we speak becomes the house where we live… “

Die (Iranische) Weltanschauung ist die dritte Ausstellung, die Shaheen Merali für das Freie Museum Berlin realisiert. Diesmal in Zusammenarbeit mit der Azad Gallery, dem einzigen von Künstlern betriebenen Ausstellungsraum in Teheran, Iran. Die Ausstellung auf den drei Ausstellungsetagen des Museums „ermöglicht eine umfassende Betrachtung der Anliegen der Künstler sowie der Verwendung von Materialien und Medien“. Ziel dieser umfangreichen Darstellung ist es, das Wissen und die Erfahrung um eine wichtige und aufstrebende Kunstszene innerhalb Berlins und Europas zu stärken. Dieses Anliegen ist erklärter Leitgedanke des Kurators in seiner Arbeit. Merali legt, wie in den beiden vorangegangenen Ausstellungen, Three Voices in my Head (April- Mai 2010) und Twice is too much (Sept-Okt 2010), großen Wert auf die

Betonung einer politisierten Ästhetik innerhalb der Künste.

Via FREIES MUSEUM BERLIN

Her Life as a Persian Ballerina

Longing for freedom of expression, in more ways than one.

 
by Correspondent in Tehran, Tehran Bureau

After a four-hour drive out of the city and three shots of something strong, Newsha finally feels free enough to dance. "What is the English name for that big animal that lives in the water and flops its ears?" she asks as light elecrofunk undulates onto the terrace of a mountain villa. Then, she arches her back, sticks her belly out and thrusts her sacrum backwards in a circular motion.

"Hippopotamus," someone responds.

If a less coordinated adult attempted to mimic Newsha's moves, the effect would likely be farcical. As a trained dancer, her movements are full of beauty, even while impersonating a decidedly graceless animal. But this hippo dance is the full extent of what Newsha allows her friends to see of her talent. When asked about the possibility of seeing her on stage, she just looks down and bows her head, letting the curls of her waist-length hair hide her face. "Dance is just such a taboo here," she says apologetically. "I wouldn't want to compromise anybody."

Though contradictory to the nature of her work, Newsha considers reticence a necessary defense mechanism. As a ballerina in Iran, she fights with social conventions on a daily basis. While visual art, and, to a lesser extent, music, have won some liberties in recent years, dance remains marginalized by the restrictions of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance -- especially if performed by females. Education is nonexistent, and opportunities to perform on stage are extremely rare. To survive as a dancer, Newsha finds ways to work within the narrow margins of what is legal here.

"We have so many limitations here, the things that we perform on stage are not really dance," she says. "You feel so constrained -- sometimes I feel like I am being choked."

Dance was always Newsha's primary passion, but pursuing it as a profession has been a struggle. She has learned mostly from her mother, who worked as a ballerina and folk dancer in pre-revolutionary times. Because there is nothing akin to a performing arts degree at Iranian fine arts schools, Newsha earned a degree in visual arts from the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. "Before the revolution, we had ballet, folk, everything. Now we are so backwards," she says.

The fact that Newsha finds space to perform publicly at all is in itself an improvement over past decades, when dancing was deemed strictly immoral and banned. These days, Newsha is able to work with small theaters in Tehran, which occasionally allows her to dance on stage. After years of collaborating with a local company, she recently agreed to choreograph an upcoming performance, and now finds herself reinterpreting definitions. Female dancers are prohibited in theater, since it's performed for mixed-gender audiences. Instead, artists like Newsha engage in something called "harmonized movement" -- pantomimes and minimalistic routines stripped of sexual undertones. "There's no fluidity in it -- it's basically just poses," Newsha explains. "Any movement that's feminine has to be cut, because it's sensual. It would actually make people want to watch."

As a performer, Newsha had been accustomed to certain rules. Veiling her ears, neck and hair, concealing the contours of her figure, and avoiding close contact with male dancers have all been a routine part of stage discipline. Now, as a choreographer, Newsha has the additional responsibility of doctoring each movement to make sure it gets past ministry censors. "I have to consider the performer as an actor, not a dancer," she says. "You really have to think about what you can do, how you can express yourself so they don't censor it before you can go on stage."

While all theaters in Iran are subject to scrutiny by the culture ministry, performances that include dance -- or "harmonized movement" -- receive additional screening. When the choreography is complete, a special task force views the performance and recommends "cuts" to certain movements before approving it for the stage. Later, a different group of officials gauges the play's Islamic values before rubber-stamping it for public viewing.

The effects of such restrictions are sometimes perverse. Weary of self-censorship, many choreographers choose males to perform sensuous adagios rather than work with female dancers. "Boys can do more than girls, and because of that, Iranian choreographers choose them more. I know so many all-male groups," Newsha says. "But for women, anything that gets attention is forbidden."

Aside from her work with theaters, Newsha sporadically finds opportunities to dance more liberally for female-only audiences, which she admits it's "better than nothing." Ultimately, she would welcome an opportunity to dance professionally in Europe, but says her informal education, as well as a lack of exposure to modern techniques, places her at a comparative disadvantage to dancers from other countries. "I love to perform, but there are so few opportunities here. For me, it's not satisfying," she says.

Increasingly, Newsha finds fulfillment in teaching children's ballet and adult folk dancing. To her, dance as a human need is conspicuously absent in Iran. "Of course everyone dances privately at parties, but publicly, it's still forbidden," she says. "We are so rich in folkloric dances, but many Iranians don't know about it because they're taught that dancing is haraam. People become depressed and start having problems with movements and energy, because they cannot express it."

To test this theory, Newsha once conducted a two-year research project. In an attempt to discover the psychological effects of dance, she asked her children's class to paint pictures before and after their ballet lesson. "In the beginning, they would draw still figures, but after two years, they understand that the body has potential, ability. You can tell that the child is feeling movement and that it gives him or her a different view of life," she says.

It was Newsha's way of legitimizing her commitment to a beleaguered art form. "My question was, is dance necessary? And the answer is yes."

Photo by zed bazi-t via Flickr. Germany

Via Tehran Bureau

LSD Magazine Interviews Iranian Street Artists - ICY & SOT

If you peer past the stereotypes, endless propaganda on both sides of the divide and the dark theocratic veil of Iran, it won’t be long before you touch both the not so silent underground and the extraordinarily nuanced pathos of Icy and Sot’s art. Infusing the international visual language of global street art with a deeply personal and targeted meaning, their spectacular range of work takes on the political, the individual and the universal as haunting flashes of innocence sweep through bold statements of identity, freedom and social justice. Whether it be sperbly layered stencils rendering an almost photographic sense of fleeting memory, silent screams of humanity, intensely political canvases beckoning a new dawn of cultural freedom or quick cheeky pastes in Tehran’s streets, they have truly made the medium their own and made the stencil and the can sing their own biting refrain. They were open enough and brave enough to speak to LSD, although we did keep our direct political questions to a minimum. If its a tale of resistance and the triumph of the spirit you’re after - the art does all the talking you need. 

Tell us a little about Tabriz and the creative scene there 

Its a city in the north-west of Iran, and kinda boring - there really isn’t much going on here to be honest. It does have really beautiful countryside and landscapes surrounding it, but all the creativity is mostly focused on the traditional art fields.

How did you first develop an interest in art 

It started with our career in skateboarding, especially Sot’s. We used to watch skate videos and play skate games all the time, and we saw graffiti and stencils on the walls which initially sparked our interest. We then started with smallthings like stickers and small amateur stencils, and we began spraying them and posting them up on our spots and gathering places.

How did being brothers and working together influence the development of your art 

We were and are best friends, and when we started, there were very few people (most of whom were in our circle of friends) who knew what graffiti, stencil and the whole street culture was. Being brothers helped us a lot as we did everything together – drinking, hanging out, stencilling – everything and overall we just understood each other.

When did you first begin to cut stencils and how differently did you have to approach that from canvas pieces 

A few years ago when we began thinking about our first exhibition and we started sophisticating our works around 2008.

Is your art seen as a political statement in Iran 

Well it is, even our non-political works are considered offensive to the government and it’s also illegal like everywhere else except for the glaring fact that it’s much more dangerous for us here as the accusations potentially levelled at you go way beyond vandalism and criminal damage, so the risks are far greater

How do the public respond to your work and how does that differ with the reaction of the authorities 

Graffiti and stencil has a long way to go before it becomes a part of our culture, and people realise what it really is. because of the lack of exposure here in this field, people aren’t familiar enough with these sorts of things., maybe if a pedestrian passes by a graffiti or stencil they might not know what it is or they might not have any interest in it, or maybe in some cases they might even wipe it off. For an example Icy once did a wheatpaste, went away for a few minutes just for it to dry off and when he came back a guy was tearing it off. But despite all of this it does now and again impact and influence some people on very rare occasions.  

READ FULL ICY & SOT INTERVIEW 

LSD Magazine Issue 7

 Open publication - Free publishing

Via LSD (London Street-Art Design) Magazine