1 TITLE FOR SECTION
ZENDEGI
t w e lv e C o n t e m p o r a r y I r a n i a n A r t i s t s
EDITED BY ROSE ISSA
cover image: Taraneh Hemami, recounting the years (Detail), digital prints on vellum with wax on four inter-connected wood panels, 173 x 173 x 15 cm, 2001
Contents ISBN: 978-0-9559515-8-9 First published by Beyond Art Production in 2011 Copyright © All images, the artists, 2011 Copyright © All text, the authors, 2011 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. A full cip record for this book is available from the British Library A full cip record for this book is available from the Library of Congress Printed in Lebanon by SAQI Design: normal industries Copy: Katia Hadidian Production: Francesca Ricci Rose Issa Projects would like to thank the Beirut Exhibition Center for hosting the exhibition and Solidere for its generous support without which this exhibition would not have been possible. We would also like to thank the participating artists and lenders for their generous contribution, and everyone at Hotel Albergo for their hospitality. Organised by Beirut Exhibition Center and Solidere. Curated and produced by Rose Issa Projects. www.roseissa.com
05 Life and nothing but... by Rose Issa 10 Maliheh Afnan
48 Bita Ghezelayagh
18 Farhad Ahrarnia
54 Taraneh Hemami
26 Mohamed Ehsai
60 Abbas Kiarostami
30 Monir Farmanfarmaian
66 Farhad Moshiri
38 Parastou Forouhar
72 Najaf Shokri
44 Shadi Ghadirian
76 Mitra Tabrizian
82 Biographies
cover image: Taraneh Hemami, recounting the years (Detail), digital prints on vellum with wax on four inter-connected wood panels, 173 x 173 x 15 cm, 2001
Contents ISBN: 978-0-9559515-8-9 First published by Beyond Art Production in 2011 Copyright © All images, the artists, 2011 Copyright © All text, the authors, 2011 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. A full cip record for this book is available from the British Library A full cip record for this book is available from the Library of Congress Printed in Lebanon by SAQI Design: normal industries Copy: Katia Hadidian Production: Francesca Ricci Rose Issa Projects would like to thank the Beirut Exhibition Center for hosting the exhibition and Solidere for its generous support without which this exhibition would not have been possible. We would also like to thank the participating artists and lenders for their generous contribution, and everyone at Hotel Albergo for their hospitality. Organised by Beirut Exhibition Center and Solidere. Curated and produced by Rose Issa Projects. www.roseissa.com
05 Life and nothing but... by Rose Issa 10 Maliheh Afnan
48 Bita Ghezelayagh
18 Farhad Ahrarnia
54 Taraneh Hemami
26 Mohamed Ehsai
60 Abbas Kiarostami
30 Monir Farmanfarmaian
66 Farhad Moshiri
38 Parastou Forouhar
72 Najaf Shokri
44 Shadi Ghadirian
76 Mitra Tabrizian
82 Biographies
4
5
Life, and nothing but
Iranian artists prove that you can be creative in a country where many restrictions apply. Iran is a country where books, music, film and other media are censored and where the educational curriculum and every aspect of daily life are regulated by strict and archaic religious rules. Yet, despite the isolation the population has suffered for more than three decades, an artistic dialogue between Iran and the outside world continues, even when international sanctions and national political, social and financial restrictions limit the potential for prosperity. Furthermore, the few galleries that do exhibit are constantly under surveillance, opening and closing with short-lived shows that few can review. Despite such adverse conditions, Iranian artists are flourishing now more than ever before, and are exhibited within Iran as well as in leading cultural capitals such as London, Dubai, Berlin, Paris and New York.
In Persian zendegi means life. This exhibition at the Beirut Exhibition Center is the first major show in Lebanon of twelve of the most prominent and emerging contemporary Iranian artists who shed light on life through their art. Coming from different generations and using diverse media, they present their interpretation of current themes and issues of relevance through a unique aesthetic language; a poetic form that merges tradition with modernity, life with art.
How did Iranian artists manage to survive the years following the Islamic Revolution (1979) and the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988) with such vigour, creating more exciting work than many of their neighbouring countries? The answer may be found in Iran’s ancient culture, with more than 2,500 years of civilisation evidenced in the carved stones of Persepolis, the painted palaces of Isfahan, sculpted shrines, tiled mosques and houses, and the rose gardens of Shiraz. Iran is a country where a taxi driver may be illiterate but can recite the poems of Rumi, Hafez or Saadi. Such are the signs of an unstoppable resilience and strong connection with a shared past. The tradition of paying homage to past masters continues with this generation of contemporary artists and filmmakers, who reference the work of modern poets such as Forough Farrokhzad, Sadegh Hedayat or Sohrab Sepehri. The fact that Iranian artists struggle with the paradoxes of daily life as much as their contemporaries means that they have relevant things to say, and because they have no other option but to survive on their wits and creativity, their environment becomes their inspiration. As Rumi said, “Whatever comes, comes from a need, a sore distress, a hurting want�. Before and after the Revolution, many Iranian artists studied abroad and continue to travel back and forth, creating a dialogue between East and West independent of government restrictions. They blend their overseas apprenticeship with Iranian concepts. Those who studied and have stayed in Iran find ways to bring their ideas abroad, and however modest the execution of their work, because it is based on personal experience and is presented with sincerity, the power of their images overcomes any limitation. In this respect there are some similarities between Iran and Lebanon: ancient history, war, chaos, resilience, a love of life, the prominence of religious ideology in daily life, the conflict
4
5
Life, and nothing but
Iranian artists prove that you can be creative in a country where many restrictions apply. Iran is a country where books, music, film and other media are censored and where the educational curriculum and every aspect of daily life are regulated by strict and archaic religious rules. Yet, despite the isolation the population has suffered for more than three decades, an artistic dialogue between Iran and the outside world continues, even when international sanctions and national political, social and financial restrictions limit the potential for prosperity. Furthermore, the few galleries that do exhibit are constantly under surveillance, opening and closing with short-lived shows that few can review. Despite such adverse conditions, Iranian artists are flourishing now more than ever before, and are exhibited within Iran as well as in leading cultural capitals such as London, Dubai, Berlin, Paris and New York.
In Persian zendegi means life. This exhibition at the Beirut Exhibition Center is the first major show in Lebanon of twelve of the most prominent and emerging contemporary Iranian artists who shed light on life through their art. Coming from different generations and using diverse media, they present their interpretation of current themes and issues of relevance through a unique aesthetic language; a poetic form that merges tradition with modernity, life with art.
How did Iranian artists manage to survive the years following the Islamic Revolution (1979) and the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988) with such vigour, creating more exciting work than many of their neighbouring countries? The answer may be found in Iran’s ancient culture, with more than 2,500 years of civilisation evidenced in the carved stones of Persepolis, the painted palaces of Isfahan, sculpted shrines, tiled mosques and houses, and the rose gardens of Shiraz. Iran is a country where a taxi driver may be illiterate but can recite the poems of Rumi, Hafez or Saadi. Such are the signs of an unstoppable resilience and strong connection with a shared past. The tradition of paying homage to past masters continues with this generation of contemporary artists and filmmakers, who reference the work of modern poets such as Forough Farrokhzad, Sadegh Hedayat or Sohrab Sepehri. The fact that Iranian artists struggle with the paradoxes of daily life as much as their contemporaries means that they have relevant things to say, and because they have no other option but to survive on their wits and creativity, their environment becomes their inspiration. As Rumi said, “Whatever comes, comes from a need, a sore distress, a hurting want�. Before and after the Revolution, many Iranian artists studied abroad and continue to travel back and forth, creating a dialogue between East and West independent of government restrictions. They blend their overseas apprenticeship with Iranian concepts. Those who studied and have stayed in Iran find ways to bring their ideas abroad, and however modest the execution of their work, because it is based on personal experience and is presented with sincerity, the power of their images overcomes any limitation. In this respect there are some similarities between Iran and Lebanon: ancient history, war, chaos, resilience, a love of life, the prominence of religious ideology in daily life, the conflict
6
7
between modernity and ancient tribal and religious laws, emigration, exile, nostalgia and the
In his minimalist film, Shirin, filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami shoots close-ups of some 100
desire to return… Above all there is a shared need to express oneself and document personal
women’s faces, creating a fascinating tension between film narrative and imagery and reality
history. Artistically, similar questions arise: how to compete with western countries that have
and fiction.
a well documented modernist history and excellent arts infrastructure? In the Middle East and Iran, there are far fewer art schools, university arts faculties, libraries and museums to cater for
The younger generation also draws inspiration from traditional crafts, combining them with
a budding artist’s education and the public’s artistic curiousity. Can real life experience replace
contemporary concepts and techniques. In her beautifully embroidered felt sculptures created
all these institutions?
specifically for this Beirut show, Three Drops of Blood, Bita Ghezelayagh combines old imagery with political text by the great novelist Sadegh Hedayat, who committed suicide in
I was in Paris when I first saw Abbas Kiarostami’s feature, Where is the House of My Friend?
exile in Paris in 1951.
in 1987. I knew at once that despite all the hardships of the restrictive regime and the ongoing war, the art scene was alive, that poetry was alive, and that artists could say what they wanted
Embroidery is also a key feature in the work of Farhad Ahrarnia, who manipulates digital
to say with subtlety. It was time to go back to Iran and discover its talent. This was the beginning
images with needles and thread. From American beauty queens and soldiers to iconic figures
of my long journey into an art scene so rich and diverse that what we see represents just a
from politics or popular culture, we are all “stitched up”. His series, Beautiful is the Silence of
fraction of what exists.
Ruins, conceived especially for Beirut, emphasises the relationship between East and West at a time when American film stars would speak Farsi or Arabic in dubbed films, so that Greta Garbo, Montgomery Clift and James Dean became an integral part of Iranian or Lebanese
The fact that Iranian artists struggle with the paradoxes of daily life as much as their contemporaries means that they have relevant things to say, and they have no other option but to survive on their wits and creativity...”
history, belonging to us all. The youngest artist in the group, Najaf Shokri, has transformed Iranian women’s expired and discarded national identity cards into artworks. In doing so, he not only documents the evidence of women’s lifestyles before the Revolution but celebrates the young women whose
In this selection, the older generation pays homage to the country’s poetry, architecture, history
identities have been thrown away by officialdom for no apparent reason. It is his way of paying
and crafts. Monir Farmanfarmaian 's intricate and dazzling modernist compositions of mosaic
respect to a period in Iran’s modern history when diversity and non-homogeneity existed.
mirrorwork and reverse-glass painting are inspired by Islamic geometric patterns and symbolic numbers. She references elements of traditional shrines and turns them into movable artworks.
The relationship between image and politics is also investigated in the work of Taraneh Hemami, who transforms photographs of martyrs and cultural heroes into beaded curtains,
Mohamed Ehsai is one of the very few artists who is also a master calligrapher. He incorporates
paying homage to the young students who sacrificed their lives for freedom, before and after
the morphology of Persian script into flowing calligraphy that reshapes old poetry, transferring
the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
words and phrases such as Mohebbat (kindness) and Yaqin al Saqi (Absolute Certainty), into modern arrangements.
Concern about the status of women is explored in the work of photographer Shadi Ghadirian, whose Like Everyday series is a humorous exploration of her personal relationship with
In Maliheh Afnan’s timeless works she discreetly explores themes of displacement and exile
domestic life after marriage.
through traces of language and landscape. In her Veiled series, the veiled agendas or veiled lies have evolved into veiled hopes, and in her recent work conceived for Beirut, A House Divided,
The multimedia artist Parastou Forouhar transcends personal tragedy – the death of her parents
she covers the divisions that Lebanon has suffered with a veil, in the hope that underneath it,
in Tehran during a series of chain killings of intellectuals – to create intricate digital drawings,
dissension can be resolved.
photographs and installations that reflect her perception of being an Iranian living in the West
6
7
between modernity and ancient tribal and religious laws, emigration, exile, nostalgia and the
In his minimalist film, Shirin, filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami shoots close-ups of some 100
desire to return… Above all there is a shared need to express oneself and document personal
women’s faces, creating a fascinating tension between film narrative and imagery and reality
history. Artistically, similar questions arise: how to compete with western countries that have
and fiction.
a well documented modernist history and excellent arts infrastructure? In the Middle East and Iran, there are far fewer art schools, university arts faculties, libraries and museums to cater for
The younger generation also draws inspiration from traditional crafts, combining them with
a budding artist’s education and the public’s artistic curiousity. Can real life experience replace
contemporary concepts and techniques. In her beautifully embroidered felt sculptures created
all these institutions?
specifically for this Beirut show, Three Drops of Blood, Bita Ghezelayagh combines old imagery with political text by the great novelist Sadegh Hedayat, who committed suicide in
I was in Paris when I first saw Abbas Kiarostami’s feature, Where is the House of My Friend?
exile in Paris in 1951.
in 1987. I knew at once that despite all the hardships of the restrictive regime and the ongoing war, the art scene was alive, that poetry was alive, and that artists could say what they wanted
Embroidery is also a key feature in the work of Farhad Ahrarnia, who manipulates digital
to say with subtlety. It was time to go back to Iran and discover its talent. This was the beginning
images with needles and thread. From American beauty queens and soldiers to iconic figures
of my long journey into an art scene so rich and diverse that what we see represents just a
from politics or popular culture, we are all “stitched up”. His series, Beautiful is the Silence of
fraction of what exists.
Ruins, conceived especially for Beirut, emphasises the relationship between East and West at a time when American film stars would speak Farsi or Arabic in dubbed films, so that Greta Garbo, Montgomery Clift and James Dean became an integral part of Iranian or Lebanese
The fact that Iranian artists struggle with the paradoxes of daily life as much as their contemporaries means that they have relevant things to say, and they have no other option but to survive on their wits and creativity...”
history, belonging to us all. The youngest artist in the group, Najaf Shokri, has transformed Iranian women’s expired and discarded national identity cards into artworks. In doing so, he not only documents the evidence of women’s lifestyles before the Revolution but celebrates the young women whose
In this selection, the older generation pays homage to the country’s poetry, architecture, history
identities have been thrown away by officialdom for no apparent reason. It is his way of paying
and crafts. Monir Farmanfarmaian 's intricate and dazzling modernist compositions of mosaic
respect to a period in Iran’s modern history when diversity and non-homogeneity existed.
mirrorwork and reverse-glass painting are inspired by Islamic geometric patterns and symbolic numbers. She references elements of traditional shrines and turns them into movable artworks.
The relationship between image and politics is also investigated in the work of Taraneh Hemami, who transforms photographs of martyrs and cultural heroes into beaded curtains,
Mohamed Ehsai is one of the very few artists who is also a master calligrapher. He incorporates
paying homage to the young students who sacrificed their lives for freedom, before and after
the morphology of Persian script into flowing calligraphy that reshapes old poetry, transferring
the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
words and phrases such as Mohebbat (kindness) and Yaqin al Saqi (Absolute Certainty), into modern arrangements.
Concern about the status of women is explored in the work of photographer Shadi Ghadirian, whose Like Everyday series is a humorous exploration of her personal relationship with
In Maliheh Afnan’s timeless works she discreetly explores themes of displacement and exile
domestic life after marriage.
through traces of language and landscape. In her Veiled series, the veiled agendas or veiled lies have evolved into veiled hopes, and in her recent work conceived for Beirut, A House Divided,
The multimedia artist Parastou Forouhar transcends personal tragedy – the death of her parents
she covers the divisions that Lebanon has suffered with a veil, in the hope that underneath it,
in Tehran during a series of chain killings of intellectuals – to create intricate digital drawings,
dissension can be resolved.
photographs and installations that reflect her perception of being an Iranian living in the West
8
with great humour and affection. Though the inspiration behind Forouhar’s subject matter may be tragic, her work has a great emotional range: the results are sometimes macabre, occasionally darkly humourous but often purely attractive. Post-feminism, post-colonialism and the shifting realities of life in post-revolutionary Iran are the main themes of Mitra Tabrizian, who blurs the boundaries between fiction and reality in her carefully staged photographs. Farhad Moshiri’s series, Reservoirs of Memories – large paintings on the theme of vessels – hints at pop and modern consumerist culture through the vernacular phrases inscribed on them. Whether living inside or outside Iran, all of these artists reflect on the exceptional as well as the ordinary events of daily life, and transform their experiences into wonderful artworks. Sincerity, originality, skill and talent are the vectors that express what they have to say.
Rose Issa London 2011
farhad ahrarnia miss iraq viii, digital photography, embroidery and needles on canvas, 59 x 39 cm, 2010
9
8
with great humour and affection. Though the inspiration behind Forouhar’s subject matter may be tragic, her work has a great emotional range: the results are sometimes macabre, occasionally darkly humourous but often purely attractive. Post-feminism, post-colonialism and the shifting realities of life in post-revolutionary Iran are the main themes of Mitra Tabrizian, who blurs the boundaries between fiction and reality in her carefully staged photographs. Farhad Moshiri’s series, Reservoirs of Memories – large paintings on the theme of vessels – hints at pop and modern consumerist culture through the vernacular phrases inscribed on them. Whether living inside or outside Iran, all of these artists reflect on the exceptional as well as the ordinary events of daily life, and transform their experiences into wonderful artworks. Sincerity, originality, skill and talent are the vectors that express what they have to say.
Rose Issa London 2011
farhad ahrarnia miss iraq viii, digital photography, embroidery and needles on canvas, 59 x 39 cm, 2010
9
10
Maliheh Afnan The Veiled Series “The Veiled Series was my response to all the fuss about veiled women in the Muslim world. It struck me that while some women veiled their faces, many of us – both male and female – were also veiled, but from within. Veiled emotions, intentions, ambitions, agendas and hopes. I write pages of illegible letters and glyphs in both Arabic and English (veiled words!) and then cover them with an actual veil of thin gauze. Personally, I would rather deal with a veiled exterior than with someone who is veiled from within. Some people are probably veiled both ways!" Contained Thoughts "This is a series of paintings on paper that are rolled into transparent vessels and thus only partially revealed. They reflect my inadequacy, frustration and inability to express what I truly wish to say. They are inner constraints that are outwardly contained."
Contained Thoughts, mixed media on paper and glass jars, various dimensions, 2011
10
Maliheh Afnan The Veiled Series “The Veiled Series was my response to all the fuss about veiled women in the Muslim world. It struck me that while some women veiled their faces, many of us – both male and female – were also veiled, but from within. Veiled emotions, intentions, ambitions, agendas and hopes. I write pages of illegible letters and glyphs in both Arabic and English (veiled words!) and then cover them with an actual veil of thin gauze. Personally, I would rather deal with a veiled exterior than with someone who is veiled from within. Some people are probably veiled both ways!" Contained Thoughts "This is a series of paintings on paper that are rolled into transparent vessels and thus only partially revealed. They reflect my inadequacy, frustration and inability to express what I truly wish to say. They are inner constraints that are outwardly contained."
Contained Thoughts, mixed media on paper and glass jars, various dimensions, 2011
12 MALIHEH AFNAN
Writing on the Wall, mixed media on paper, 58 x 83 cm, 2011
13
A House Divided, mixed media on paper and gauze, 29.7 x 49 cm, 2011
12 MALIHEH AFNAN
Writing on the Wall, mixed media on paper, 58 x 83 cm, 2011
13
A House Divided, mixed media on paper and gauze, 29.7 x 49 cm, 2011
A House Divided (Detail), mixed media on paper and gauze, 29.7 x 49 cm, 2011
A House Divided (Detail), mixed media on paper and gauze, 29.7 x 49 cm, 2011
16 MALIHEH AFNAN
Veiled Triptych, (I,II,III), ink on paper and gauze, each 42 x 59 cm, 2011
17
16 MALIHEH AFNAN
Veiled Triptych, (I,II,III), ink on paper and gauze, each 42 x 59 cm, 2011
17
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Farhad Ahrarnia "For me living in Iran has never guaranteed a state of detachment or indifference to events unfolding rapidly in the rest of the world. Various contradictory narratives, sounds and images seep into my imagination and consciousness. They become entangled with my perception, history and everyday reality. Naturally I can’t help but weave my own set of meanings from what I see around me. I piece together tainted realisations and understandings, imbued with a sense of conspiracy, anxiety and unease, however false or twisted it might be. The myriad diversity of Iranian perspectives on regional and global events has always bemused and intrigued me. I suppose the greatest challenge that faces my generation is how to reconcile our contemporaneity and modernity with our search for individual and collective truths. If and when we bother to reclaim everything that tends to seduce and manipulate our views, perhaps then a degree of emancipation will be achieved. I reach out for my truth and autonomy through embroidery and the language of needlework, with sharp needles and endless spools of colourful thread. As I navigate my thoughts through the surface of an image, I find myself deconstructing and re-assembling its subliminal undertones and intentions. Recently I have begun carving metallic household utensils, forming my version of certain collective histories on to their surface. This is my attempt to dig out and save the lost spirit of all that might still be hovering beneath."
the dig, Composition no.1, silver plated copper, 42 x 27 x 3 cm, 2011
18
Farhad Ahrarnia "For me living in Iran has never guaranteed a state of detachment or indifference to events unfolding rapidly in the rest of the world. Various contradictory narratives, sounds and images seep into my imagination and consciousness. They become entangled with my perception, history and everyday reality. Naturally I can’t help but weave my own set of meanings from what I see around me. I piece together tainted realisations and understandings, imbued with a sense of conspiracy, anxiety and unease, however false or twisted it might be. The myriad diversity of Iranian perspectives on regional and global events has always bemused and intrigued me. I suppose the greatest challenge that faces my generation is how to reconcile our contemporaneity and modernity with our search for individual and collective truths. If and when we bother to reclaim everything that tends to seduce and manipulate our views, perhaps then a degree of emancipation will be achieved. I reach out for my truth and autonomy through embroidery and the language of needlework, with sharp needles and endless spools of colourful thread. As I navigate my thoughts through the surface of an image, I find myself deconstructing and re-assembling its subliminal undertones and intentions. Recently I have begun carving metallic household utensils, forming my version of certain collective histories on to their surface. This is my attempt to dig out and save the lost spirit of all that might still be hovering beneath."
the dig, Composition no.1, silver plated copper, 42 x 27 x 3 cm, 2011
20 FARHAD AHRARNIA
Beautiful is the silence of ruins no. III, digital photography, embroidery and needles on canvas, 81.5 x 168.5 CM, 2011
21
Beautiful is the silence of ruins no. II, digital photography, embroidery and needles on canvas, 100 x 135 CM, 2011
20 FARHAD AHRARNIA
Beautiful is the silence of ruins no. III, digital photography, embroidery and needles on canvas, 81.5 x 168.5 CM, 2011
21
Beautiful is the silence of ruins no. II, digital photography, embroidery and needles on canvas, 100 x 135 CM, 2011
22 TITLE FOR SECTION
Beautiful is the silence of ruins no.i (detail), digital photography, embroidery and needles on canvas, 88.5 x 144 cm, 2011
23 TITLE FOR SECTION
22 TITLE FOR SECTION
Beautiful is the silence of ruins no.i (detail), digital photography, embroidery and needles on canvas, 88.5 x 144 cm, 2011
23 TITLE FOR SECTION
24 FARHAD AHRARNIA
Palestine is mine, digital photography, embroidery and needles on canvas, 45.8 x 38.5 CM, 2010
25
I love Palestine, digital photography, embroidery and needles on canvas, 39.2 x 39.2 CM, 2010
24 FARHAD AHRARNIA
Palestine is mine, digital photography, embroidery and needles on canvas, 45.8 x 38.5 CM, 2010
25
I love Palestine, digital photography, embroidery and needles on canvas, 39.2 x 39.2 CM, 2010
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Mohamed Ehsai From the earliest days of his career, master calligrapher, contemporary artist and educator Mohamed Ehsai has succeeded in balancing the two spheres of traditional calligraphy and modern art. On paper and canvas, his Naghashi-Khat (calligraphical paintings) display the masterly gestures of an artist whose work is grounded in the transcendental. They are always inspired by a name, word or a poetic verse, and his interpretations are complex, layered and mystical. For example, Mohebbat (Kindness), is from a poem by Rumi. In Ehsai’s hands, kindness is revealed as a quality that is often underestimated but which can transform ugliness into beauty, sadness into joy, intolerance into acceptance and indifference into love. In Yaqin al Saqi (Absolute Certainty), literally the bearer of water or wine, is here a provider of knowledge. Knowledge of religion or art. That person has no doubt. For decades Ehsai has played on variations of the word Allah in his Zikr series. It has been expressed in minimalist monochrome drawings and vibrant colourful paintings, the resonance of the word depicted in the quality and texture of the paint, from pure pigment to car paint. When asked why he devotes so much time to re-writing the Koran or old poetry in traditional styles, Ehsai explains that this is the only way he can detach himself from the daily frustrations of current affairs. The concentration required becomes meditative, helping him overcome disappointment with the world outside. He has always emphasised the way in which spirituality, religion, poetry, and culture are intertwined, just as words and phrases blend together in his work. He may forget which specific poem has inspired him, but he never forgets its essence and meaning.
from the series allah, oil on canvas, 75 x 75 CM (each), 2007
26
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Mohamed Ehsai From the earliest days of his career, master calligrapher, contemporary artist and educator Mohamed Ehsai has succeeded in balancing the two spheres of traditional calligraphy and modern art. On paper and canvas, his Naghashi-Khat (calligraphical paintings) display the masterly gestures of an artist whose work is grounded in the transcendental. They are always inspired by a name, word or a poetic verse, and his interpretations are complex, layered and mystical. For example, Mohebbat (Kindness), is from a poem by Rumi. In Ehsai’s hands, kindness is revealed as a quality that is often underestimated but which can transform ugliness into beauty, sadness into joy, intolerance into acceptance and indifference into love. In Yaqin al Saqi (Absolute Certainty), literally the bearer of water or wine, is here a provider of knowledge. Knowledge of religion or art. That person has no doubt. For decades Ehsai has played on variations of the word Allah in his Zikr series. It has been expressed in minimalist monochrome drawings and vibrant colourful paintings, the resonance of the word depicted in the quality and texture of the paint, from pure pigment to car paint. When asked why he devotes so much time to re-writing the Koran or old poetry in traditional styles, Ehsai explains that this is the only way he can detach himself from the daily frustrations of current affairs. The concentration required becomes meditative, helping him overcome disappointment with the world outside. He has always emphasised the way in which spirituality, religion, poetry, and culture are intertwined, just as words and phrases blend together in his work. He may forget which specific poem has inspired him, but he never forgets its essence and meaning.
from the series allah, oil on canvas, 75 x 75 CM (each), 2007
28 MOHAMED EHSAI
mohebbat, oil on canvas, 130 x 130 CM, 2006
29
yaqin al saqi (absolute certainty), oil on canvas, 203 x 143 CM, 2011
28 MOHAMED EHSAI
mohebbat, oil on canvas, 130 x 130 CM, 2006
29
yaqin al saqi (absolute certainty), oil on canvas, 203 x 143 CM, 2011
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Monir Farmanfarmaian Today she is a role model for many Iranian artists, but Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian came to the international limelight only recently, in her late seventies. Stylistically, she is the only contemporary artist of the last 40 years to use the mirror-mosaic technique with Islamic geometric pattern and reverse-glass painting to create modernist artworks. She developed this distinct style in the late 1960s and 1970s, a result of her deep emotional ties with her country and her training in New York in the early 1950s, which sharpened rather than suppressed her sense of cultural identity. Her three installations of mirror-mosaic panels reflect the colours of the Iranian national flag, a country to which she is spiritually and aesthetically attached. The Embracing Synthesis in green, symbol of harmony, represents the three forms of action: mental, physical and verbal. The Number of Material Order in red, represents stability and the physical world, the cardinal points and the four seasons. The centrepiece in white, Birds of Paradise, represents peace, clarity, the beginning and the end. Farmanfarmaian has never fitted any classification, any art movement, or any school of thought. Her work, free from human tragedy, sentimentality and political statements, has a recognisable universal idiom. Hers is the journey of a passionate artist who has always admired the craftsmanship and geometric visual vocabulary of her country and who, in her persistent quest for new designs, creates and reinterprets ancient forms into modern artworks.
detail of one element from the embracing Synthesis, mirror, reverse-glass painting and plaster on wood, 2004
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Monir Farmanfarmaian Today she is a role model for many Iranian artists, but Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian came to the international limelight only recently, in her late seventies. Stylistically, she is the only contemporary artist of the last 40 years to use the mirror-mosaic technique with Islamic geometric pattern and reverse-glass painting to create modernist artworks. She developed this distinct style in the late 1960s and 1970s, a result of her deep emotional ties with her country and her training in New York in the early 1950s, which sharpened rather than suppressed her sense of cultural identity. Her three installations of mirror-mosaic panels reflect the colours of the Iranian national flag, a country to which she is spiritually and aesthetically attached. The Embracing Synthesis in green, symbol of harmony, represents the three forms of action: mental, physical and verbal. The Number of Material Order in red, represents stability and the physical world, the cardinal points and the four seasons. The centrepiece in white, Birds of Paradise, represents peace, clarity, the beginning and the end. Farmanfarmaian has never fitted any classification, any art movement, or any school of thought. Her work, free from human tragedy, sentimentality and political statements, has a recognisable universal idiom. Hers is the journey of a passionate artist who has always admired the craftsmanship and geometric visual vocabulary of her country and who, in her persistent quest for new designs, creates and reinterprets ancient forms into modern artworks.
detail of one element from the embracing Synthesis, mirror, reverse-glass painting and plaster on wood, 2004
32 MONIR FARMANFARMAIAN
The Embracing Synthesis, one of the six elements, centre circle 100 cm, 2004
33
The Embracing Synthesis, detal of one of the elements, 100 cm, 2004
32 MONIR FARMANFARMAIAN
The Embracing Synthesis, one of the six elements, centre circle 100 cm, 2004
33
The Embracing Synthesis, detal of one of the elements, 100 cm, 2004
34 MONIR FARMANFARMAIAN
35
The Number of Material Order, installation of nine elements, 2004
34 MONIR FARMANFARMAIAN
35
The Number of Material Order, installation of nine elements, 2004
36 MONIR FARMANFARMAIAN
Birds of paradise, mirror mosaic and reverse glass painting, 180 x 129 cm (each), 2008
36 MONIR FARMANFARMAIAN
Birds of paradise, mirror mosaic and reverse glass painting, 180 x 129 cm (each), 2008
38
Parastou Forouhar Forouhar's powerful work shows a unique combination of a rigorous German training, wonderful sense of humour, admirable resilience, and deep understanding of her Iranian background. Her intriguing photographs are from an ongoing series of work based on her experience as an Iranian inside and outside Iran. The Swanrider series was made in Germany and centres on western perception of easterners, while her marvellous digital drawings of butterflies, Parvaneh, are named after her mother, who was killed with her husband in an unsolved, possibly political, murder. Her creativity expands into many spheres. Eslimi (Ornaments) is a fabric pattern-book of deceptive charm. Look closer and we see the patterns are composed of instruments of torture such as whips, knives, needles, knuckledusters and pistols - elements that reappear in the mesmerising Digital Drawings, which seem decorative from afar, but are actually kaleidoscopic patterns of gruesome objects and events. They are spellbinding, dramatic, tragic and also, in terms of aesthetics, wonderfully expressed. Similarly, the series, Signs plays on the imagery of road and traffic signs to express the battle of the sexes in Iran: for women, there is no entry and access denied, while men enjoy right of way. Individually and together, the works are startling, thought-provoking, and disturbingly attractive. Forouhar's work is more than engaged - it initiates public discourse. She has inherited a family tradition - the quest for justice - and has translated that into a new aesthetic vocabulary.
the swanrider, photographic colour print, 160 x 160 CM, 2004
38
Parastou Forouhar Forouhar's powerful work shows a unique combination of a rigorous German training, wonderful sense of humour, admirable resilience, and deep understanding of her Iranian background. Her intriguing photographs are from an ongoing series of work based on her experience as an Iranian inside and outside Iran. The Swanrider series was made in Germany and centres on western perception of easterners, while her marvellous digital drawings of butterflies, Parvaneh, are named after her mother, who was killed with her husband in an unsolved, possibly political, murder. Her creativity expands into many spheres. Eslimi (Ornaments) is a fabric pattern-book of deceptive charm. Look closer and we see the patterns are composed of instruments of torture such as whips, knives, needles, knuckledusters and pistols - elements that reappear in the mesmerising Digital Drawings, which seem decorative from afar, but are actually kaleidoscopic patterns of gruesome objects and events. They are spellbinding, dramatic, tragic and also, in terms of aesthetics, wonderfully expressed. Similarly, the series, Signs plays on the imagery of road and traffic signs to express the battle of the sexes in Iran: for women, there is no entry and access denied, while men enjoy right of way. Individually and together, the works are startling, thought-provoking, and disturbingly attractive. Forouhar's work is more than engaged - it initiates public discourse. She has inherited a family tradition - the quest for justice - and has translated that into a new aesthetic vocabulary.
the swanrider, photographic colour print, 160 x 160 CM, 2004
40 PARASTOU FOROUHAR
from the papillion series, digital print on epson photo paper glossy, 2010
41
Eslimi, printed fabric-pattern book, 2007
40 PARASTOU FOROUHAR
from the papillion series, digital print on epson photo paper glossy, 2010
41
Eslimi, printed fabric-pattern book, 2007
42 PARASTOU FOROUHAR
Signs series, laminated digital drawings on aluminium, 40 x 40 cm, 2004–10
43
Sign, installation of light boxes for "mahrem", santralistanbul, 2008
42 PARASTOU FOROUHAR
Signs series, laminated digital drawings on aluminium, 40 x 40 cm, 2004–10
43
Sign, installation of light boxes for "mahrem", santralistanbul, 2008
44
45
Shadi Ghadirian “In my photography I deal with social issues that concern and inspire me. I try to portray different aspects of Iranian women’s life. Two years after my graduation I married and left my family home for the first time. In Iran, few people live on their own, especially girls, as it is not socially acceptable. The only time women are faced with practical domestic duties is when we are married, hence the association of domestic chores with marriage. Suddenly I had to cook, iron and clean, and be a housekeeper as well as a photographer and wife. I was also perplexed by the many wedding presents I received that were to do with housekeeping. This new life inspired my series, Like Everyday (2001-2002), which explores the expectations made on married women in traditional societies. Here, a woman is condemned to repetitive routines of tea making, preparing meals, cleaning, sweeping and serving. The outsider’s perception of Iranian women is of a silhouette under a black chador. Rather than use these, seen in so many pictures of Iran, I chose the richly patterned, colourful and feminine ones that women traditionally wear inside their homes to receive guests. My faceless subjects are then juxtaposed with items of domestic equipment: an iron, a broom, a kettle, a tea cup, pots and pans and other kitchen utensils. Had I lived alone for some time, like many of my friends in Europe, maybe such subjects would not have inspired me.”
from the series like everyday, c-print on aluminium, 100 x 100 cm, 2001-02
44
45
Shadi Ghadirian “In my photography I deal with social issues that concern and inspire me. I try to portray different aspects of Iranian women’s life. Two years after my graduation I married and left my family home for the first time. In Iran, few people live on their own, especially girls, as it is not socially acceptable. The only time women are faced with practical domestic duties is when we are married, hence the association of domestic chores with marriage. Suddenly I had to cook, iron and clean, and be a housekeeper as well as a photographer and wife. I was also perplexed by the many wedding presents I received that were to do with housekeeping. This new life inspired my series, Like Everyday (2001-2002), which explores the expectations made on married women in traditional societies. Here, a woman is condemned to repetitive routines of tea making, preparing meals, cleaning, sweeping and serving. The outsider’s perception of Iranian women is of a silhouette under a black chador. Rather than use these, seen in so many pictures of Iran, I chose the richly patterned, colourful and feminine ones that women traditionally wear inside their homes to receive guests. My faceless subjects are then juxtaposed with items of domestic equipment: an iron, a broom, a kettle, a tea cup, pots and pans and other kitchen utensils. Had I lived alone for some time, like many of my friends in Europe, maybe such subjects would not have inspired me.”
from the series like everyday, c-print on aluminium, 100 x 100 cm, 2001-02
46 SHADI GHADIRIAN
from the series like everyday, c-print on aluminium, 100 x 100 cm (each), 2001-02
47
46 SHADI GHADIRIAN
from the series like everyday, c-print on aluminium, 100 x 100 cm (each), 2001-02
47
48
49 TITLE FOR SECTION
Bita Ghezelayagh Three Drops of Blood “In my new series of felt pieces I explore the past in a mystical circle. There is a tension between the soft, rural, unpretentious felt, and the industrial techniques that animate it, which favour the silk screen process and relegate embroidery to an elusive, trailing border. I fill these spaces with my personal hinterland – geographical, familial and historical. There is a map of Tehran, my hometown, whose pulsing arteries carry the stories and incidents that make me who I am. There is my great-grandfather, Mua’zam ul-Mulk, in the ornate cloak he wore to Tehran’s first parliament, and also his own father, the feudal Muhammad-Hossein Khan. From the nation's common past, I draw on Amir Kabir, the reformer of the nineteenth century, and from our popular culture the talismans that give us protection. These images combine the intimate with the unattainable, for while they are familiar to me, their felt background is cracked and fractured, like the parched earth of the Iranian plateau. Where there are maps and personalities, there are events. I have tried to create a sense of mystery, hence the bright red reference that binds each piece together: three drops of fresh blood on each fresh page. These are a homage to Sadegh Hedayat’s sinister short story of the same name, with its suggestions of violence and disorder. They also reflect the artistic bafflement he expresses at the story’s opening: For all this time, however much I begged for pen and paper, they wouldn’t give it to me. I had thought of all the things I would write whenever they gave me pen and paper... Then yesterday, without my even asking for them, they brought me pen and paper. Those things I had so longed and waited for! What’s the use? Ever since yesterday, however much I rack my brains, I’ve got nothing to write. Hedayat’s words wind around each one of these circles of felt, reminding me of the highly ambiguous relationship between an artist and her medium. In Hedayat’s words, “Now that I pay attention to the jumbled lines that I have scrawled on the paper, all that is legible is: Three Drops of Blood.”
three Drops of blood I, felt and embroidery, Ø 110 cm, 2011
48
49 TITLE FOR SECTION
Bita Ghezelayagh Three Drops of Blood “In my new series of felt pieces I explore the past in a mystical circle. There is a tension between the soft, rural, unpretentious felt, and the industrial techniques that animate it, which favour the silk screen process and relegate embroidery to an elusive, trailing border. I fill these spaces with my personal hinterland – geographical, familial and historical. There is a map of Tehran, my hometown, whose pulsing arteries carry the stories and incidents that make me who I am. There is my great-grandfather, Mua’zam ul-Mulk, in the ornate cloak he wore to Tehran’s first parliament, and also his own father, the feudal Muhammad-Hossein Khan. From the nation's common past, I draw on Amir Kabir, the reformer of the nineteenth century, and from our popular culture the talismans that give us protection. These images combine the intimate with the unattainable, for while they are familiar to me, their felt background is cracked and fractured, like the parched earth of the Iranian plateau. Where there are maps and personalities, there are events. I have tried to create a sense of mystery, hence the bright red reference that binds each piece together: three drops of fresh blood on each fresh page. These are a homage to Sadegh Hedayat’s sinister short story of the same name, with its suggestions of violence and disorder. They also reflect the artistic bafflement he expresses at the story’s opening: For all this time, however much I begged for pen and paper, they wouldn’t give it to me. I had thought of all the things I would write whenever they gave me pen and paper... Then yesterday, without my even asking for them, they brought me pen and paper. Those things I had so longed and waited for! What’s the use? Ever since yesterday, however much I rack my brains, I’ve got nothing to write. Hedayat’s words wind around each one of these circles of felt, reminding me of the highly ambiguous relationship between an artist and her medium. In Hedayat’s words, “Now that I pay attention to the jumbled lines that I have scrawled on the paper, all that is legible is: Three Drops of Blood.”
three Drops of blood I, felt and embroidery, Ø 110 cm, 2011
50 BITA GHEZELAYAGH
three Drops of blood VI, felt and embroidery, Ø 110 cm, 2011
51
three Drops of blood VIII, felt and embroidery, Ø 110 cm, 2011
50 BITA GHEZELAYAGH
three Drops of blood VI, felt and embroidery, Ø 110 cm, 2011
51
three Drops of blood VIII, felt and embroidery, Ø 110 cm, 2011
52 BITA GHEZELAYAGH
three Drops of blood V, felt and embroidery, Ø 110 cm, 2011
53
three Drops of blood IV, felt and embroidery, Ø 110 cm, 2011
52 BITA GHEZELAYAGH
three Drops of blood V, felt and embroidery, Ø 110 cm, 2011
53
three Drops of blood IV, felt and embroidery, Ø 110 cm, 2011
54
Taraneh Hemami “Re-Counting is a portrait of a personal time, a layered archive of my experience of emigration. It is comprised of 14,934 sets of dates (every day of my life up to the date of completion of the work), in Persian or English, using the three different calendars with which I have measured my life. The red dots reflect significant personal or historical dates. This one is specifically all the Persian years (when I lived in Iran before my exile), which works out to exactly before the Revolution. The round piece includes every day in a circular, seasonal calendar that is precisely measured and worked out in detail in an Illustrator programme before being applied to the circular panels.  The Heroes Martyrs Legends series began as a fascination with the need for heroes and the reverence for martyrs while looking at the crucial role they have played throughout history in a nation or civilisation’s culture. The headshots are of young student activists executed before and after the Revolution. They represent a generation dissolved in the zeitgeist of the romantic notion of a selfless revolutionary, which contributed to a major shift in the political direction of the country and the faith of the region. Reflecting the complexity of Iran's recent history, these young students are honoured and respected by certain sections of society, raised to the status of martyr by some and labelled as traitors by others. In the Commemoratives series of beaded images, I show events, rather than people, that are celebrated in government postal stamps."
from the series commemorative stamps, 6 mm faceted beads, thread and steel, 81 x 61 cm (each), 2009 photo: scott chernis
54
Taraneh Hemami “Re-Counting is a portrait of a personal time, a layered archive of my experience of emigration. It is comprised of 14,934 sets of dates (every day of my life up to the date of completion of the work), in Persian or English, using the three different calendars with which I have measured my life. The red dots reflect significant personal or historical dates. This one is specifically all the Persian years (when I lived in Iran before my exile), which works out to exactly before the Revolution. The round piece includes every day in a circular, seasonal calendar that is precisely measured and worked out in detail in an Illustrator programme before being applied to the circular panels.  The Heroes Martyrs Legends series began as a fascination with the need for heroes and the reverence for martyrs while looking at the crucial role they have played throughout history in a nation or civilisation’s culture. The headshots are of young student activists executed before and after the Revolution. They represent a generation dissolved in the zeitgeist of the romantic notion of a selfless revolutionary, which contributed to a major shift in the political direction of the country and the faith of the region. Reflecting the complexity of Iran's recent history, these young students are honoured and respected by certain sections of society, raised to the status of martyr by some and labelled as traitors by others. In the Commemoratives series of beaded images, I show events, rather than people, that are celebrated in government postal stamps."
from the series commemorative stamps, 6 mm faceted beads, thread and steel, 81 x 61 cm (each), 2009 photo: scott chernis
56 TARANEH HEMAMI
from the series heroes, martyrs and legends, faceted beads and string, 64 x 41 cm (each), 2008 photo: sibila savage
57
56 TARANEH HEMAMI
from the series heroes, martyrs and legends, faceted beads and string, 64 x 41 cm (each), 2008 photo: sibila savage
57
silent tear, painted ceramic and beeswax coating, sizes vary from 10 x 23 x 10 cm to 13 x 33 x 13 cm, 2008
58 TARANEH HEMAMI
59 TARANEH HEMAMI
recounting the years, digital prints on vellum with wax on four inter-connected wood panels, 173 x 173 x 15 cm, 2001 photo: sibila savage
silent tear, painted ceramic and beeswax coating, sizes vary from 10 x 23 x 10 cm to 13 x 33 x 13 cm, 2008
58 TARANEH HEMAMI
59 TARANEH HEMAMI
recounting the years, digital prints on vellum with wax on four inter-connected wood panels, 173 x 173 x 15 cm, 2001 photo: sibila savage
60
Abbas Kiarostami Shirin (2008) Directed by Abbas Kiarostami. Screenplay by Mohammad Rahmanian, based on the poem, Khosrow e Shirin by Farrideh Golbou. Produced by Abbas Kiarostami and Hamideh Razavi. Starring: Niki Karimi, Golshifteh Farahani, Juliette Binoche. Running time: 92 minutes Kiarostami premiered this film at the 65th Venice International Film Festival in 2008, where it received an enthusiastic response. Shirin is composed of simple close-ups of more than 100 women’s faces as they watch a play about an 800-year-old Persian love story, Khosrow and Shirin. The play is offscreen and revealed in telescoping flashbacks, while the women’s expressions reveal their emotional involvement with this romance about female self-sacrifice and the love triangle between an Iranian king, an Armenian queen and a sculptor. The women’s faces reconstruct the unseen narrative, reflected in their floods of tears, biting of lips, fiddling with headscarves, or expressions of rapt attention. The women are well-known Iranian personalities whom Kiarostami has not worked with before, as he generally uses non-professional actors. For Shirin, he filmed the actresses individually in his studio, asking each one to gaze at a blank space above the camera and imagine an incident or a film. Later, dialogue and sound effects were created and the audio-visual relationship layered together and edited. Over the years, Kiarostami’s film-making has become increasingly minimalist, abstract and experimental, his approach more like an installation artist and photographer than a feature film-maker. In Shirin, he succeeds in creating a fascinating tension between film narrative and film imagery. The narrative illusion shows his commitment to fiction, not in the sense of fooling the audience, but in exploring the many methods of storytelling that film offers.
stills from shirin, 2008
60
Abbas Kiarostami Shirin (2008) Directed by Abbas Kiarostami. Screenplay by Mohammad Rahmanian, based on the poem, Khosrow e Shirin by Farrideh Golbou. Produced by Abbas Kiarostami and Hamideh Razavi. Starring: Niki Karimi, Golshifteh Farahani, Juliette Binoche. Running time: 92 minutes Kiarostami premiered this film at the 65th Venice International Film Festival in 2008, where it received an enthusiastic response. Shirin is composed of simple close-ups of more than 100 women’s faces as they watch a play about an 800-year-old Persian love story, Khosrow and Shirin. The play is offscreen and revealed in telescoping flashbacks, while the women’s expressions reveal their emotional involvement with this romance about female self-sacrifice and the love triangle between an Iranian king, an Armenian queen and a sculptor. The women’s faces reconstruct the unseen narrative, reflected in their floods of tears, biting of lips, fiddling with headscarves, or expressions of rapt attention. The women are well-known Iranian personalities whom Kiarostami has not worked with before, as he generally uses non-professional actors. For Shirin, he filmed the actresses individually in his studio, asking each one to gaze at a blank space above the camera and imagine an incident or a film. Later, dialogue and sound effects were created and the audio-visual relationship layered together and edited. Over the years, Kiarostami’s film-making has become increasingly minimalist, abstract and experimental, his approach more like an installation artist and photographer than a feature film-maker. In Shirin, he succeeds in creating a fascinating tension between film narrative and film imagery. The narrative illusion shows his commitment to fiction, not in the sense of fooling the audience, but in exploring the many methods of storytelling that film offers.
stills from shirin, 2008
62 ABBAS KIAROSTAMI
from the series snow white, 67 x 86 cm, 1978-2004
63
62 ABBAS KIAROSTAMI
from the series snow white, 67 x 86 cm, 1978-2004
63
64 ABBAS KIAROSTAMI
from the series snow white, 67 x 86 cm, 1978-2004
65
64 ABBAS KIAROSTAMI
from the series snow white, 67 x 86 cm, 1978-2004
65
66
Farhad Moshiri Farhad Moshiri’s early paintings of monumental clay jars are impressive containers of desire and memory as well as eulogies on the simple pleasures of life. These were some of his earliest works to be exhibited outside Iran and led to his critical international success. The series is a variation on the theme of a simple, stoneware vessel – the kind used for storing grain, rice, tea leaves, or cooling water – which is rendered in colours that he associates with particular words, sentences or memories. These include favourite drinks (such as Ab Anar Tazeh - fresh pomegranate juice); food (like Miveh va Tarehbar, fruits and vegetables, with mentions of sweet Isfahani melons, grapes from Shahroud, or pomegranates from Saveh, and the price in tomans); or traditional popular dishes (such as Kaleh Pache). The jars look almost three-dimensional, overwritten with fluid shekasteh script that reflects a bygone culture. With their thick bodies, simple contours and unobtrusive coloured surfaces, these elegant vessels are inspired by the antique jars discovered on archaeological sites and resemble ancient Iranian pottery. The surface of the paintings resembles crackled glaze, a texture reminiscent of thick coils of un-worked clay and old pieces from the monochrome ceramic tradition that flourished in ancient Iran. The use of plain bold colours in layers of different tones, the sheer simplicity of the form and the modesty of the words chosen, all reflect Moshiri’s early, minimal aesthetic.
miveh va tarehbar (fruits and vegetables), mixed media on canvas, 260 x 170 cm, 2002
66
Farhad Moshiri Farhad Moshiri’s early paintings of monumental clay jars are impressive containers of desire and memory as well as eulogies on the simple pleasures of life. These were some of his earliest works to be exhibited outside Iran and led to his critical international success. The series is a variation on the theme of a simple, stoneware vessel – the kind used for storing grain, rice, tea leaves, or cooling water – which is rendered in colours that he associates with particular words, sentences or memories. These include favourite drinks (such as Ab Anar Tazeh - fresh pomegranate juice); food (like Miveh va Tarehbar, fruits and vegetables, with mentions of sweet Isfahani melons, grapes from Shahroud, or pomegranates from Saveh, and the price in tomans); or traditional popular dishes (such as Kaleh Pache). The jars look almost three-dimensional, overwritten with fluid shekasteh script that reflects a bygone culture. With their thick bodies, simple contours and unobtrusive coloured surfaces, these elegant vessels are inspired by the antique jars discovered on archaeological sites and resemble ancient Iranian pottery. The surface of the paintings resembles crackled glaze, a texture reminiscent of thick coils of un-worked clay and old pieces from the monochrome ceramic tradition that flourished in ancient Iran. The use of plain bold colours in layers of different tones, the sheer simplicity of the form and the modesty of the words chosen, all reflect Moshiri’s early, minimal aesthetic.
miveh va tarehbar (fruits and vegetables), mixed media on canvas, 260 x 170 cm, 2002
68 FARHAD MOSHIRI
kaleh pache (traditional dishes), mixed media on canvas, 170 x 260 cm, 2002
69
ab anar tazeh (fresh pomegranate juice), mixed media on canvas, 170 x 260 cm, 2002
68 FARHAD MOSHIRI
kaleh pache (traditional dishes), mixed media on canvas, 170 x 260 cm, 2002
69
ab anar tazeh (fresh pomegranate juice), mixed media on canvas, 170 x 260 cm, 2002
70 FARHAD MOSHIRI
detail of ab anar tazeh (fresh pomegrante juice), mixed media on canvas, 170 x 260 cm, 2002
71 TITLE FOR SECTION
70 FARHAD MOSHIRI
detail of ab anar tazeh (fresh pomegrante juice), mixed media on canvas, 170 x 260 cm, 2002
71 TITLE FOR SECTION
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73 TITLE FOR SECTION
Najaf Shokri Irandokht "One day outside the Statistic and Registration Administration in Tehran, I discovered piles of discarded identity cards by the dustbins. They were all of women born in the early 1940s, who were photographed in their youth. The astonishing diversity of hair-dos – only a minority wore a scarf or chador – reflected the variety of choices that women had in the late 1950s and 60s. The ID cards also represented the many different classes and personalities of women of the time, from shy and demure to upfront, confident and glamorous. When I found these pictures, sometime in 2005, I wondered whether these women had died, never renewed their identity or emigrated. It seemed to me that the government was most probably erasing evidence of our recent and distant past, for these photographs oppose the current dominant culture. I was shocked that these records of our community could be discarded so easily, without remorse. Photography is more about discovering than creating. Being a finder is the dominant, innate state. In Irandokht I have tried to stitch together another aspect of our history, one that is not about throwing away, ignorance and corruption. To me, discarding history reflects the intolerance and negligence of institutions in power. The Irandokht series invites the audience to face a certain period without any judgment. These women lived in Iran, and I feel I am in some way reviving and preserving their memory."
from the series lost identities, installation of 50 photographs, 20 x 20 cm each, 2006-9
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73 TITLE FOR SECTION
Najaf Shokri Irandokht "One day outside the Statistic and Registration Administration in Tehran, I discovered piles of discarded identity cards by the dustbins. They were all of women born in the early 1940s, who were photographed in their youth. The astonishing diversity of hair-dos – only a minority wore a scarf or chador – reflected the variety of choices that women had in the late 1950s and 60s. The ID cards also represented the many different classes and personalities of women of the time, from shy and demure to upfront, confident and glamorous. When I found these pictures, sometime in 2005, I wondered whether these women had died, never renewed their identity or emigrated. It seemed to me that the government was most probably erasing evidence of our recent and distant past, for these photographs oppose the current dominant culture. I was shocked that these records of our community could be discarded so easily, without remorse. Photography is more about discovering than creating. Being a finder is the dominant, innate state. In Irandokht I have tried to stitch together another aspect of our history, one that is not about throwing away, ignorance and corruption. To me, discarding history reflects the intolerance and negligence of institutions in power. The Irandokht series invites the audience to face a certain period without any judgment. These women lived in Iran, and I feel I am in some way reviving and preserving their memory."
from the series lost identities, installation of 50 photographs, 20 x 20 cm each, 2006-9
74 NAJAF SHOKRI
from the series lost identities, installation of 50 photographs, 20 x 20 cm each, 2006-9
75
74 NAJAF SHOKRI
from the series lost identities, installation of 50 photographs, 20 x 20 cm each, 2006-9
75
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Mitra Tabrizian Each of Mitra Tabrizian’s staged photographic tableaux contains a compelling, condensed narrative; a carefully constructed image that critiques contemporary life in Iran. Her photomontage, Surveillance (1989) is a panoramic assembly of three key periods in Iranian contemporary history. It illustrates the role of the West and the clergy in Iranian politics and the serious implications for women’s identity. On the left is an allusion to Operation Ajax, which overthrew Prime Minister Mossadegh. On the right, the handshake which brought the clergy to power in 1979. The central image encapsulates events in 1982, the year when Iranian women lost many of their rights: family protection law was abandoned, the veil became compulsory and coeducation was banned. Tehran 2006 looks at the reality of everyday life and the ordinary in extraordinary times. Conceptually the project is concerned with survival, as individuals in the diverse crowd are all struggling: a taxi driver, factory worker, builder, cleaner, dressmaker, servant and caretaker. All the characters play themselves. The landscape shows they live literally and physically on the edge; these are the people most affected by economic sanctions and possible military action.
surveillance (detail), c-type print, 101 x 302 cm, 1988-89
76
Mitra Tabrizian Each of Mitra Tabrizian’s staged photographic tableaux contains a compelling, condensed narrative; a carefully constructed image that critiques contemporary life in Iran. Her photomontage, Surveillance (1989) is a panoramic assembly of three key periods in Iranian contemporary history. It illustrates the role of the West and the clergy in Iranian politics and the serious implications for women’s identity. On the left is an allusion to Operation Ajax, which overthrew Prime Minister Mossadegh. On the right, the handshake which brought the clergy to power in 1979. The central image encapsulates events in 1982, the year when Iranian women lost many of their rights: family protection law was abandoned, the veil became compulsory and coeducation was banned. Tehran 2006 looks at the reality of everyday life and the ordinary in extraordinary times. Conceptually the project is concerned with survival, as individuals in the diverse crowd are all struggling: a taxi driver, factory worker, builder, cleaner, dressmaker, servant and caretaker. All the characters play themselves. The landscape shows they live literally and physically on the edge; these are the people most affected by economic sanctions and possible military action.
surveillance (detail), c-type print, 101 x 302 cm, 1988-89
78 MITRA TABRIZIAN
surveillance, c-type print, 101 x 302 cm, 1988-89
79
78 MITRA TABRIZIAN
surveillance, c-type print, 101 x 302 cm, 1988-89
79
80 MITRA TABRIZIAN
tehran 2006, c-type light jet print, 101 x 302 cm, 2006
81 TITLE FOR SECTION
80 MITRA TABRIZIAN
tehran 2006, c-type light jet print, 101 x 302 cm, 2006
81 TITLE FOR SECTION
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83
Biographies
Maliheh Afnan Maliheh Afnan was born in 1935 to Persian parents in Haifa, Palestine, where she lived until 1949. Her family then moved to Beirut, where she went to high school and later graduated with a BA from the American University of Beirut in 1955. In 1956 she moved to Washington DC, where she graduated with an MA in Fine Arts at the Corcoran School of Art (1962). From 1963-66 she lived in Kuwait and then returned to Beirut, where she lived until 1974. She spent the following 23 years in Paris, where she had numerous exhibitions, before settling in London in 1997, where she lives today. Afnan has had several solo shows, including Maliheh Afnan: Traces, Faces, Places at Rose Issa Projects (2010) to celebrate the publication of her book of the same name; Selected Works: 1960-2006 (2006) and Maliheh Afnan: Retrospective (2000), both at England & Co, London; and also solo exhibitions at Galerie Mouvances, Paris (1996); Théâtre de Beyrouth, Beirut and Galerie 10 Bonaparte, Paris (both 1994); Leighton House Museum, London (1993); Galerie Arcadia, Paris (1987); A&A Turner Galerie, Paris (1982); Galerie Brigitte Schehadé, Paris (1980); Galerie Principe-Anne Merlet, Paris (1978); Galerie Cyrus, Paris, presented by Michel Tapié (1974); and Galerie Claire Brambach, Basel, presented by Mark Tobey (1971). She has participated in numerous group exhibitions around the world, including the forthcoming The Art of Writing, Kurhaus Kolonnade, Wiesbaden (2011); Miragens, a touring exhibition at the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Brasilia (2010-11); Modern Times – Responding to Chaos, at Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge and De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea (2010); Taswir: Pictorial Mappings of Islam and Modernity, Martin Gropius Bau Museum, Berlin (2009); Contained Thoughts, Courtauld Institute of Art, London (2008); Re-Orientations: Contemporary Arab Representations, European Parliament, Brussels (2008); Routes, Waterhouse & Dodd, London; Word into Art, DIFC, Dubai (2008 – previously at The British Museum, London, 2006); The Dance of Pen and Ink, The State Museum of Oriental Art, Moscow and The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg (2007-08); Iranian Contemporary Art, Curve Gallery, Barbican Centre, London (2001); Salon de Réalités Nouvelles, Espace Eiffel Branly, Paris (1997 and 1984); Traditions of Respect: Britain and Islamic Cultures (The British Council, 1997); Salon du Dessin et de la Peinture à l’Eau, Espace Eiffel Branly, Paris (1995); Salon d’Automne, Thorigny-Sur-Marne, France (1994); Exposition Inaugurale, Galerie du Chêne – Donald Vallotton, Lausanne (1992); Collecting 20th-Century Art, The British Museum, London (1991); Painting and Sculpture at the End of the 20th Century, European Cultural Centre of Delphi, Greece (1998); Selected Artists, Kufa Gallery, London (1987); and Paysages, Galerie Faris, Paris (1985). Maliheh Afnan’s work is in several public collections, including The British Museum, London; and the Institut du Monde Arabe, Akkram Ojjeh Foundation and BAII Bank Collection, all in Paris. She has also featured in several publications, most recently Maliheh Afnan: Traces, Faces, Places (2010, Al Saqi Books and Beyond Art Production).
82
83
Biographies
Maliheh Afnan Maliheh Afnan was born in 1935 to Persian parents in Haifa, Palestine, where she lived until 1949. Her family then moved to Beirut, where she went to high school and later graduated with a BA from the American University of Beirut in 1955. In 1956 she moved to Washington DC, where she graduated with an MA in Fine Arts at the Corcoran School of Art (1962). From 1963-66 she lived in Kuwait and then returned to Beirut, where she lived until 1974. She spent the following 23 years in Paris, where she had numerous exhibitions, before settling in London in 1997, where she lives today. Afnan has had several solo shows, including Maliheh Afnan: Traces, Faces, Places at Rose Issa Projects (2010) to celebrate the publication of her book of the same name; Selected Works: 1960-2006 (2006) and Maliheh Afnan: Retrospective (2000), both at England & Co, London; and also solo exhibitions at Galerie Mouvances, Paris (1996); Théâtre de Beyrouth, Beirut and Galerie 10 Bonaparte, Paris (both 1994); Leighton House Museum, London (1993); Galerie Arcadia, Paris (1987); A&A Turner Galerie, Paris (1982); Galerie Brigitte Schehadé, Paris (1980); Galerie Principe-Anne Merlet, Paris (1978); Galerie Cyrus, Paris, presented by Michel Tapié (1974); and Galerie Claire Brambach, Basel, presented by Mark Tobey (1971). She has participated in numerous group exhibitions around the world, including the forthcoming The Art of Writing, Kurhaus Kolonnade, Wiesbaden (2011); Miragens, a touring exhibition at the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Brasilia (2010-11); Modern Times – Responding to Chaos, at Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge and De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea (2010); Taswir: Pictorial Mappings of Islam and Modernity, Martin Gropius Bau Museum, Berlin (2009); Contained Thoughts, Courtauld Institute of Art, London (2008); Re-Orientations: Contemporary Arab Representations, European Parliament, Brussels (2008); Routes, Waterhouse & Dodd, London; Word into Art, DIFC, Dubai (2008 – previously at The British Museum, London, 2006); The Dance of Pen and Ink, The State Museum of Oriental Art, Moscow and The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg (2007-08); Iranian Contemporary Art, Curve Gallery, Barbican Centre, London (2001); Salon de Réalités Nouvelles, Espace Eiffel Branly, Paris (1997 and 1984); Traditions of Respect: Britain and Islamic Cultures (The British Council, 1997); Salon du Dessin et de la Peinture à l’Eau, Espace Eiffel Branly, Paris (1995); Salon d’Automne, Thorigny-Sur-Marne, France (1994); Exposition Inaugurale, Galerie du Chêne – Donald Vallotton, Lausanne (1992); Collecting 20th-Century Art, The British Museum, London (1991); Painting and Sculpture at the End of the 20th Century, European Cultural Centre of Delphi, Greece (1998); Selected Artists, Kufa Gallery, London (1987); and Paysages, Galerie Faris, Paris (1985). Maliheh Afnan’s work is in several public collections, including The British Museum, London; and the Institut du Monde Arabe, Akkram Ojjeh Foundation and BAII Bank Collection, all in Paris. She has also featured in several publications, most recently Maliheh Afnan: Traces, Faces, Places (2010, Al Saqi Books and Beyond Art Production).
84 BIOGRAPHIES
85
Farhad Ahrarnia
Mohamed Ehsai
Farhad Ahrarnia was born in 1971 in Shiraz, Iran and studied at the Sheffield Hallam University in England. He lives and works between Sheffield and Shiraz.
Master calligrapher and artist Mohamed Ehsai was born in Qazvin, Iran in 1939, where he lives today. He graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Tehran University in 1971 where he later taught calligraphy.
He has exhibited extensively in Britain and abroad. His UK solo shows include Stitched, at Leighton House Museum, London (2008) and Home, at Bessie Sertees House, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead (both 2004).
Ehsai presides over several art institutions across Iran, teaches calligraphy at several universities in Tehran, and is now one of the few artist-calligraphers who continues to be commissioned by private patrons from across the Islamic world. His artwork includes calligraphic paintings, calligraphic murals on architectural structures such as the Iranian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (1988-1991), and other important architectural spaces in Tehran (Natural Museum of Iran and University of Tehran Academy of Theology). He is also a design consultant, and created the conference hall of the Ellahiat Faculty, Iran (1978).
He has also participated in several group shows, including the touring exhibition Bringing the War Home, Impressions Gallery, Bradford (2010); Balla Drama, Paradise Row Gallery (2009); A Picture of Us, Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield (2009); Magic of Persia, Royal College of Art, London (2009); Connect at the Cartwright Hall Gallery, Bradford, Sheffield Pavilion at the Venice Biennale and Documenta XII, Kassel, Germany (2007); Prelude, at the Cartwright Hall Gallery, Bradford (2006); and Palace & Mosque: Islamic Arts from the Victoria & Albert Museum at the Millennium Galleries, Sheffield (2006). His work also featured in the touring exhibitions Art Textiles 3 (Suffolk, Scotland, and Nottinghamshire; 2004) and Art of The Stitch (London, Liverpool, The Netherlands; 2004).
Since his first solo shows at Tehran’s Seyhoun Gallery (1973), Iran-American Society (1974) and Litho Gallery (1975), Ehsai has exhibited extensively in Iran and worldwide including his most recent travelling group shows Word into Art (Dubai, 2009 and the British Museum, London, 2006); The Dance of Pen and Ink (The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, 2007 and The State Museum of Oriental Art, Moscow, 2008); and Inheritance, Leighton House Museum, London (2000). His work featured at the Cyrus Gallery in Paris in 1975. He also exhibits regularly at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art. He has received several awards, including the National Award (First Degree Medal) of Art and Culture, Iran (2005) and the French National Award at the International Painting Festival, Cagnes-Sur Mer, France (1974). Ehsai has also served as Editor for the Iran Education Books Organisation; is a Member of the Board of the Iranian Institute of Calligraphy, Iranian Calligraphers Society and Iranian Graphic Designers Society (IGDS); a member of the Iranian Academy of Art; and an art consultant to the Tehran Contemporary Art Museum. His work is in several private collections around the world and numerous public collections, including the British Museum, London; the Farjam Collection, Dubai; the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art and the Museum of Fine Arts, Saadabad, Tehran. Ehsai is currently producing a major monograph of his work.
84 BIOGRAPHIES
85
Farhad Ahrarnia
Mohamed Ehsai
Farhad Ahrarnia was born in 1971 in Shiraz, Iran and studied at the Sheffield Hallam University in England. He lives and works between Sheffield and Shiraz.
Master calligrapher and artist Mohamed Ehsai was born in Qazvin, Iran in 1939, where he lives today. He graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Tehran University in 1971 where he later taught calligraphy.
He has exhibited extensively in Britain and abroad. His UK solo shows include Stitched, at Leighton House Museum, London (2008) and Home, at Bessie Sertees House, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead (both 2004).
Ehsai presides over several art institutions across Iran, teaches calligraphy at several universities in Tehran, and is now one of the few artist-calligraphers who continues to be commissioned by private patrons from across the Islamic world. His artwork includes calligraphic paintings, calligraphic murals on architectural structures such as the Iranian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (1988-1991), and other important architectural spaces in Tehran (Natural Museum of Iran and University of Tehran Academy of Theology). He is also a design consultant, and created the conference hall of the Ellahiat Faculty, Iran (1978).
He has also participated in several group shows, including the touring exhibition Bringing the War Home, Impressions Gallery, Bradford (2010); Balla Drama, Paradise Row Gallery (2009); A Picture of Us, Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield (2009); Magic of Persia, Royal College of Art, London (2009); Connect at the Cartwright Hall Gallery, Bradford, Sheffield Pavilion at the Venice Biennale and Documenta XII, Kassel, Germany (2007); Prelude, at the Cartwright Hall Gallery, Bradford (2006); and Palace & Mosque: Islamic Arts from the Victoria & Albert Museum at the Millennium Galleries, Sheffield (2006). His work also featured in the touring exhibitions Art Textiles 3 (Suffolk, Scotland, and Nottinghamshire; 2004) and Art of The Stitch (London, Liverpool, The Netherlands; 2004).
Since his first solo shows at Tehran’s Seyhoun Gallery (1973), Iran-American Society (1974) and Litho Gallery (1975), Ehsai has exhibited extensively in Iran and worldwide including his most recent travelling group shows Word into Art (Dubai, 2009 and the British Museum, London, 2006); The Dance of Pen and Ink (The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, 2007 and The State Museum of Oriental Art, Moscow, 2008); and Inheritance, Leighton House Museum, London (2000). His work featured at the Cyrus Gallery in Paris in 1975. He also exhibits regularly at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art. He has received several awards, including the National Award (First Degree Medal) of Art and Culture, Iran (2005) and the French National Award at the International Painting Festival, Cagnes-Sur Mer, France (1974). Ehsai has also served as Editor for the Iran Education Books Organisation; is a Member of the Board of the Iranian Institute of Calligraphy, Iranian Calligraphers Society and Iranian Graphic Designers Society (IGDS); a member of the Iranian Academy of Art; and an art consultant to the Tehran Contemporary Art Museum. His work is in several private collections around the world and numerous public collections, including the British Museum, London; the Farjam Collection, Dubai; the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art and the Museum of Fine Arts, Saadabad, Tehran. Ehsai is currently producing a major monograph of his work.
86 BIOGRAPHIES
87
Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian
Parastou Farouhar
Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian was born in Qazvin, Iran in 1923. She studied at the Fine Arts College at Tehran University (1944-46), Parsons School of Design, New York (1946-49) and Cornell University, Ithaca (1950-51).
Photographer, installation and multi-media artist Parastou Forouhar was born in 1962 in Teheran, received her BA in Art from the University of Tehran (1990), and since 1991 has lived in Germany, where she received an MA from the Hochschule für Gestaltung, Offenbach am Main.
Farmanfarmaian first worked as a commercial artist and designer in retail in New York. When she returned to Iran in 1957, she started working in the traditional art of mirror mosaics. Her reputation peaked in the 1970s, with major exhibitions in Paris and New York. After the Islamic Revolution of 1979 she took refuge in New York, working on commissions, drawings, collages and models. Her return to Tehran in 2000, where she lives today, represented her rebirth as an artist.
Forouhar’s recent solo shows include Parastou Forouhar, Rose Issa Projects at Leighton House Museum, London (2010); Links of Violence, Orgelfabrik, Karlsruhe (2009); Parastou Forouhar, Karin Sachs Gallery, Munich (2009); Parade, Kunsthalle Vierseithof, Lückenwalde (2008); Just A Minute, Fondazione Pastificio Cerere, Rome (2007); Spielmannszüge (Marching Bands), Forum of the Dominican Monastery, Frankfurt (2005); Parastou Forouhar, Deutscher Dom, Berlin (2005); Tausendundein Tag (1001 Days), the National Gallery Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, (2003); Schuhe ausziehen (Take Off Your Shoes), Gallery de Ligt, Frankfurt (2002); and Blind Spot, Exhibition Hall Schulstrasse 1A, Frankfurt/M and Stavanger Cultural Centre, Norway (2001-2).
Her recent solo shows include Recent Works at Rose Issa Projects, London (2010); Geometry of Hope, curated by Rose Issa at Leighton House Museum, London (2008); Recollections, Third Line Gallery, Dubai (2008); and Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian: Mirror Mosaics at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (2006). Recent group shows include Diwan East West, Venice Biennale (2009); Die Macht dest Ornaments, Belvedere Museum, Vienna (2008-9); Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern, Switzerland (2008); and Iranian Contemporary Art, curated by Rose Issa, The Curve Gallery, Barbican, London (2001). Her work is in several public collections, including the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; the Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane, Australia; the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Niyavaran Palace & Cultural Centre and Saadabad Museum, all in Iran; The Metropolitan Museum and the Grey Art Gallery, both in New York; and the Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. She features in several publications including a forthcoming monography edited by Hans Ulrich Obrist; Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian: Heartaches, edited and with an introduction by Rose Issa (Nazar Research and Cultural Institute, 2007); Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian: Mosaic of Mirrors by Rose Issa, with a foreword by Frank Stella (Nazar Research and Cultural Institute, 2006); and Iranian Contemporary Art by Rose Issa (Booth-Clibborn Editions, 2001).
She has participated in several group shows including Iran diVerso: Black or White?, Verso Arte Contemporanea, Turin (2010); Krieg/Individuum, Ausstellungshalle Zeitgenössische Kunst Münster, Germany (2010); Veiled Memoirs, XIV Biennale Donna, Ferrara (2010); Die Macht Des Ornaments (The Power of Ornament), Belvedere, Vienna (2009); Traum und Wirklichkeit (Dreams and Reality) at the Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern, Switzerland and BM Contemporary Art Center, Istanbul (2009); Rebelle, Museum of Modern Art, Arnhem, The Netherlands (2009); Taswir: Pictorial Mappings of Islam and Modernity, Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin (2009); Incheon Women Artists’ Biennale, South Korea (2009); Iran Inside Out, Chelsea Art Museum, New York (2009); Mahrem, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna and Santralistanbul, Istanbul (2008); Re-Imagining Asia, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin and New Art Gallery, Walsall (2008); Global Feminisms, Brooklyn Museum, New York (2007); Retracing Territories, Kunsthalle Fribourg, Switzerland (2007); Unfinished, BM-Suma Contemporary Art Centre, Istanbul (2007); Multispeak I, Witte Zaal, Ghent (2007); Vote for Women, Kunst Meran, Merano (2007); Naqsh, Pergamon Museum, Berlin (2007); Eastern Expressway, Evangelische Stadtakademie, Frankfurt (2006); Das Kritische Auge (The Critical Eye), Neue Kunstverein Aschaffenburg (2006); Hannah Arendt Denkraum, former Jewish Girls’ School, Berlin (2006); Intersections, Jewish Museum of Melbourne and Jewish Museum San Francisco (2005); Gabriele Münter Preis at the Martin-Gropius Bau, Berlin and Frauen Museum, Bonn (2004); Die Zehn Gebote (The Ten Commandments), Deutsches Hygiene-Museum, Dresden (2004); Triennale of Contemporary Art, Oberschwaben, Weingartenand (2004); and Far Near Distance, House of World Cultures, Berlin (2004). Forouhar has taken part in the Biennales of Istanbul (2007), Berlin (2001), and Busan, South Korea (2004) and was awarded residencies at the BM Centre of Contemporary Art, Istanbul (2007); Villa Massimo, Rome (2006); Gertrude Centre of Contemporary Art, Melbourne (2005); and Schloss Balmoral, Austria (2004). Her work is in the permanent collection of the Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane; Belvedere Museum, Vienna; Badisches Landesmuseum, Karlsruhe; Museum of Modern Art, Frankfurt; and the Deutsche Bank Art Collection. Recent publications include Parastou Forouhar: Art, Life & Death in Iran, ed. Rose Issa (Saqi Books, 2010) and Iranian Photography Now, ed. Rose Issa (Hatje Cantz and Beyond Art Production, 2008).
86 BIOGRAPHIES
87
Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian
Parastou Farouhar
Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian was born in Qazvin, Iran in 1923. She studied at the Fine Arts College at Tehran University (1944-46), Parsons School of Design, New York (1946-49) and Cornell University, Ithaca (1950-51).
Photographer, installation and multi-media artist Parastou Forouhar was born in 1962 in Teheran, received her BA in Art from the University of Tehran (1990), and since 1991 has lived in Germany, where she received an MA from the Hochschule für Gestaltung, Offenbach am Main.
Farmanfarmaian first worked as a commercial artist and designer in retail in New York. When she returned to Iran in 1957, she started working in the traditional art of mirror mosaics. Her reputation peaked in the 1970s, with major exhibitions in Paris and New York. After the Islamic Revolution of 1979 she took refuge in New York, working on commissions, drawings, collages and models. Her return to Tehran in 2000, where she lives today, represented her rebirth as an artist.
Forouhar’s recent solo shows include Parastou Forouhar, Rose Issa Projects at Leighton House Museum, London (2010); Links of Violence, Orgelfabrik, Karlsruhe (2009); Parastou Forouhar, Karin Sachs Gallery, Munich (2009); Parade, Kunsthalle Vierseithof, Lückenwalde (2008); Just A Minute, Fondazione Pastificio Cerere, Rome (2007); Spielmannszüge (Marching Bands), Forum of the Dominican Monastery, Frankfurt (2005); Parastou Forouhar, Deutscher Dom, Berlin (2005); Tausendundein Tag (1001 Days), the National Gallery Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, (2003); Schuhe ausziehen (Take Off Your Shoes), Gallery de Ligt, Frankfurt (2002); and Blind Spot, Exhibition Hall Schulstrasse 1A, Frankfurt/M and Stavanger Cultural Centre, Norway (2001-2).
Her recent solo shows include Recent Works at Rose Issa Projects, London (2010); Geometry of Hope, curated by Rose Issa at Leighton House Museum, London (2008); Recollections, Third Line Gallery, Dubai (2008); and Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian: Mirror Mosaics at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (2006). Recent group shows include Diwan East West, Venice Biennale (2009); Die Macht dest Ornaments, Belvedere Museum, Vienna (2008-9); Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern, Switzerland (2008); and Iranian Contemporary Art, curated by Rose Issa, The Curve Gallery, Barbican, London (2001). Her work is in several public collections, including the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; the Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane, Australia; the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Niyavaran Palace & Cultural Centre and Saadabad Museum, all in Iran; The Metropolitan Museum and the Grey Art Gallery, both in New York; and the Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. She features in several publications including a forthcoming monography edited by Hans Ulrich Obrist; Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian: Heartaches, edited and with an introduction by Rose Issa (Nazar Research and Cultural Institute, 2007); Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian: Mosaic of Mirrors by Rose Issa, with a foreword by Frank Stella (Nazar Research and Cultural Institute, 2006); and Iranian Contemporary Art by Rose Issa (Booth-Clibborn Editions, 2001).
She has participated in several group shows including Iran diVerso: Black or White?, Verso Arte Contemporanea, Turin (2010); Krieg/Individuum, Ausstellungshalle Zeitgenössische Kunst Münster, Germany (2010); Veiled Memoirs, XIV Biennale Donna, Ferrara (2010); Die Macht Des Ornaments (The Power of Ornament), Belvedere, Vienna (2009); Traum und Wirklichkeit (Dreams and Reality) at the Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern, Switzerland and BM Contemporary Art Center, Istanbul (2009); Rebelle, Museum of Modern Art, Arnhem, The Netherlands (2009); Taswir: Pictorial Mappings of Islam and Modernity, Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin (2009); Incheon Women Artists’ Biennale, South Korea (2009); Iran Inside Out, Chelsea Art Museum, New York (2009); Mahrem, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna and Santralistanbul, Istanbul (2008); Re-Imagining Asia, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin and New Art Gallery, Walsall (2008); Global Feminisms, Brooklyn Museum, New York (2007); Retracing Territories, Kunsthalle Fribourg, Switzerland (2007); Unfinished, BM-Suma Contemporary Art Centre, Istanbul (2007); Multispeak I, Witte Zaal, Ghent (2007); Vote for Women, Kunst Meran, Merano (2007); Naqsh, Pergamon Museum, Berlin (2007); Eastern Expressway, Evangelische Stadtakademie, Frankfurt (2006); Das Kritische Auge (The Critical Eye), Neue Kunstverein Aschaffenburg (2006); Hannah Arendt Denkraum, former Jewish Girls’ School, Berlin (2006); Intersections, Jewish Museum of Melbourne and Jewish Museum San Francisco (2005); Gabriele Münter Preis at the Martin-Gropius Bau, Berlin and Frauen Museum, Bonn (2004); Die Zehn Gebote (The Ten Commandments), Deutsches Hygiene-Museum, Dresden (2004); Triennale of Contemporary Art, Oberschwaben, Weingartenand (2004); and Far Near Distance, House of World Cultures, Berlin (2004). Forouhar has taken part in the Biennales of Istanbul (2007), Berlin (2001), and Busan, South Korea (2004) and was awarded residencies at the BM Centre of Contemporary Art, Istanbul (2007); Villa Massimo, Rome (2006); Gertrude Centre of Contemporary Art, Melbourne (2005); and Schloss Balmoral, Austria (2004). Her work is in the permanent collection of the Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane; Belvedere Museum, Vienna; Badisches Landesmuseum, Karlsruhe; Museum of Modern Art, Frankfurt; and the Deutsche Bank Art Collection. Recent publications include Parastou Forouhar: Art, Life & Death in Iran, ed. Rose Issa (Saqi Books, 2010) and Iranian Photography Now, ed. Rose Issa (Hatje Cantz and Beyond Art Production, 2008).
88 BIOGRAPHIES
89
Shadi Ghadirian
Bita Ghezelayagh
Photographer Shadi Ghadirian was born in 1974 in Tehran, graduated with a BA in Photography from the Azad University, Tehran (1998), and swiftly became one of the most celebrated photographers in Iran, where she lives today.
Bita Ghezelayagh was born in Florence, Italy in 1966 and was brought up in Tehran since 1968. She now lives in London, and works between London and Tehran.
She has exhibited widely, including solo shows at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California (2008); Photography Festival of Istanbul, Turkey (2007); Gallery B21, Dubai (2007); Al Maamal Foundation, East Jerusalem, Palestine (2006); Villa Moda, Kuwait (2002); Silk Road Gallery, Tehran (2002); Guildhall University, London ( 2000) and Golestan Gallery, Tehran (1999). Her numerous group exhibitions include Biennale Donna, Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Ferrara (2010); Word into Art: Artists of the Modern Middle East, DIFC, Dubai (2008) and The British Museum, London (2006); Noorderlicht Photofestival, Netherlands (2007); Representation and Use of the Body in Art, Galerie Helene Lamarque, Paris (2006); Ey! Iran: Contemporary Iranian Photography, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Australia (2006); Images of the Middle East, DCCD, Copenhagen, Denmark (2006); The Veiled Mirror: Contemporary Iranian Photography, De Santos Gallery, Houston, Texas (2006); Blessed are the Merciful, Feigen Contemporary, New York (2006); After the Revolution, San Sebastian, Spain (2005); West by East, CCCB, Barcelona (2005); Far Near Distance, The House of World Culture (HKW), Berlin (2004); Sharjah International Biennal VI (2003); the touring exhibition The Veil at The New Art Gallery, Walsall, Liverpool and Oxford (2003); the touring exhibition Harem Fantasies and the New Sheherezades, CCCB Barcelona and Lyon (2003); Glimpses of Iran, Thessaloniki Museum of Photography, Greece (2002); Iranian Contemporary Art, Barbican Art Centre, London (2001); Regards Persans, Espace Electra, Paris (2001); Inheritance, Leighton House Museum, London (2000); and Ekbatana?, Nikolaj Contemporary Art Centre, Copenhagen (2000). Ghadirian’s work is in several public collections, including The British Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum in London; The Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California; Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna (MUMOK); and Musée des Arts Contemporains, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. Selected publications include Shadi Ghadirian: A Woman Photographer from Iran by Rose Issa (Saqi Books, 2008), Iranian Photography Now by Rose Issa (Hatje Cantz, 2008); and Iranian Contemporary Art by Rose Issa (Booth-Clibborn Editions, London, 2001)
In 1984, at the height of the Iran-Iraq war, she went to Paris to study architecture at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Paris La Villette, where she received an MA. She returned to Tehran in 1994, where she worked in building restoration for the Association of Iranian Calligraphers in Tehran (Anjomane Khoshnevissan). Ghezelayagh art-directed three notable Iranian films, including The Pear Tree (Derakhte Golabi) by Dariush Mehrjui. In 2003 she started studying the traditional Iranian craft of felt-making and had her first solo exhibition at the House of Artists (Khane Honarmandan) in Tehran in 2008. Her first international solo exhibition, Felt Memories, was at Rose Issa Projects in London (2009), followed by the UK touring solo exhibition, Namad: A Persian Journey in Felt, at The Collins Gallery, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow; Quilt Museum, York; and Hawick Museum, Roxburgshire, Scotland (2009-2010). In 2009 she exhibited at the Golestan Gallery in Tehran, and in January 2011 at the Albahreh Gallery in Bahrain. Recent group shows include Miragens, a touring exhibition at the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Brasilia (2010-11). Her work is in the public collection of the British Museum, London and she is on the shortlist for the Jameel Prize 2011 exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, which will tour worldwide.
88 BIOGRAPHIES
89
Shadi Ghadirian
Bita Ghezelayagh
Photographer Shadi Ghadirian was born in 1974 in Tehran, graduated with a BA in Photography from the Azad University, Tehran (1998), and swiftly became one of the most celebrated photographers in Iran, where she lives today.
Bita Ghezelayagh was born in Florence, Italy in 1966 and was brought up in Tehran since 1968. She now lives in London, and works between London and Tehran.
She has exhibited widely, including solo shows at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California (2008); Photography Festival of Istanbul, Turkey (2007); Gallery B21, Dubai (2007); Al Maamal Foundation, East Jerusalem, Palestine (2006); Villa Moda, Kuwait (2002); Silk Road Gallery, Tehran (2002); Guildhall University, London ( 2000) and Golestan Gallery, Tehran (1999). Her numerous group exhibitions include Biennale Donna, Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Ferrara (2010); Word into Art: Artists of the Modern Middle East, DIFC, Dubai (2008) and The British Museum, London (2006); Noorderlicht Photofestival, Netherlands (2007); Representation and Use of the Body in Art, Galerie Helene Lamarque, Paris (2006); Ey! Iran: Contemporary Iranian Photography, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Australia (2006); Images of the Middle East, DCCD, Copenhagen, Denmark (2006); The Veiled Mirror: Contemporary Iranian Photography, De Santos Gallery, Houston, Texas (2006); Blessed are the Merciful, Feigen Contemporary, New York (2006); After the Revolution, San Sebastian, Spain (2005); West by East, CCCB, Barcelona (2005); Far Near Distance, The House of World Culture (HKW), Berlin (2004); Sharjah International Biennal VI (2003); the touring exhibition The Veil at The New Art Gallery, Walsall, Liverpool and Oxford (2003); the touring exhibition Harem Fantasies and the New Sheherezades, CCCB Barcelona and Lyon (2003); Glimpses of Iran, Thessaloniki Museum of Photography, Greece (2002); Iranian Contemporary Art, Barbican Art Centre, London (2001); Regards Persans, Espace Electra, Paris (2001); Inheritance, Leighton House Museum, London (2000); and Ekbatana?, Nikolaj Contemporary Art Centre, Copenhagen (2000). Ghadirian’s work is in several public collections, including The British Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum in London; The Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California; Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna (MUMOK); and Musée des Arts Contemporains, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. Selected publications include Shadi Ghadirian: A Woman Photographer from Iran by Rose Issa (Saqi Books, 2008), Iranian Photography Now by Rose Issa (Hatje Cantz, 2008); and Iranian Contemporary Art by Rose Issa (Booth-Clibborn Editions, London, 2001)
In 1984, at the height of the Iran-Iraq war, she went to Paris to study architecture at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Paris La Villette, where she received an MA. She returned to Tehran in 1994, where she worked in building restoration for the Association of Iranian Calligraphers in Tehran (Anjomane Khoshnevissan). Ghezelayagh art-directed three notable Iranian films, including The Pear Tree (Derakhte Golabi) by Dariush Mehrjui. In 2003 she started studying the traditional Iranian craft of felt-making and had her first solo exhibition at the House of Artists (Khane Honarmandan) in Tehran in 2008. Her first international solo exhibition, Felt Memories, was at Rose Issa Projects in London (2009), followed by the UK touring solo exhibition, Namad: A Persian Journey in Felt, at The Collins Gallery, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow; Quilt Museum, York; and Hawick Museum, Roxburgshire, Scotland (2009-2010). In 2009 she exhibited at the Golestan Gallery in Tehran, and in January 2011 at the Albahreh Gallery in Bahrain. Recent group shows include Miragens, a touring exhibition at the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Brasilia (2010-11). Her work is in the public collection of the British Museum, London and she is on the shortlist for the Jameel Prize 2011 exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, which will tour worldwide.
90 BIOGRAPHIES
91
Taraneh Hemami
Abbas Kiarostami
Interdisciplinary visual artist Taraneh Hemami was born in Iran in 1960, received a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Painting & Drawing from the University of Oregon, Eugene (1982) and a Master of Fine Arts in Painting (Distinction) from the California College of the Arts, Oakland, California (1991). She lives in San Francisco, and exhibits, lectures, teaches and curates internationally.
Film-maker, photographer and poet Abbas Kiarostami was born in Tehran in 1940, where he lives today. He studied painting and graphic design at the Tehran University School of Fine Arts (1958-1961), and first worked in advertising as a painter, designer, and illustrator, designing posters and shooting advertisements for Iranian television. Later he helped establish the film-making department at the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (Kanoon), where he started directing his own short films and later his first feature films and documentaries.
Hemami’s numerous solo shows include the forthcoming Fabrications, curated by Rose Issa Projects at Leighton House Museum, London (2011); Depth of Surface, San Francisco State Fine Arts Gallery, (2010); Evocations, Rose Issa Projects, London (2008); Most Wanted, Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco (2007); Remembrances, Persian Cultural Center, Berkeley, California (2003); and Hall of Reflections, San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery (2002). She participates in numerous group shows, which most recently include One Day, Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco (2009); Theory of Survival, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco (2008); We Remember the Sun, San Francisco Art Institute (2008); Global Eyes, Siggraph International Exhibition, San Diego, California (2007); Stitches in Time, ArtsChange, Richmond, California (2007); Intimate Bodies/Public Spaces, Mina Dresden, San Francisco (2006); On the Edge of Culture, Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (2006); Represent, Oliver Art Center, Oakland, California (2005); Of Past and Present, Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco (2005); Sacred Spaces, Berkeley Arts Center, California (2004); The Drawing Project, Vamiali Art Gallery, Athens (2004); Sharjah VI International Biennial, United Arab Emirates (2003); 25 Years of Separation, Articultural Gallery, Pasadena, California (2003); Reconstructing Reality, The Oakland Gallery, California (2001); Alchemy, MY Art Prospects, New York (2001); and Re-Counting, The Judah L. Magnes Museum, Berkeley, California (2001). Hemami’s works are in several public collections, including The British Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
He is the writer-director of 38 films, including Certified Copy (2010); Shirin (2008); Ten (2002); The Wind Will Carry Us (1999); A Taste of Cherry (1997), which won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival; Through the Olive Trees (1994); Close Up (1990); Homework (1990); and Where is my Friend’s House? (1987). Kiarostami’s photography is also exhibited extensively around the world. His most recent solo shows include Abbas Kiarostami: Roads and Rain, Purdey Hicks Gallery, London (2009); Abbas Kiarostami, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris (2007-2008) and Museum of Modern Art, New York (2007); Snow White, Stenersen Museum, Oslo (2006); The Roads and Untitled, La Casa Encendida, Madrid, and CCCB, Barcelona (2006); Los Caminos de Abbas Kiarostami, Malba – Collecion Costantini, Buenos Aires (2006); Le Strade di Kiarostami, Museo Provinciale di Potenza, Italy (2006); Walking with the Wind – The Roads and Untitled, Kumho Art Museum, Seoul and Palazzo d’Accursio, Bologna (2005); Forest Without Leaves, Victoria & Albert Museum, London; Triptych Photographs of Abbas Kiarostami, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tehran (2004-2005); Photographies et Films, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nantes (2004-2005); The Roads of Abbas Kiarostami, Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki, Fundaçào Armando Alvares Penteado, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes, Lisbon, Portugal, Castel dell’Ovo, Naples and Fondazione Sandretto Rebaudengo, Turin (2003-2004); and Field of Vision, Fondazione Bevilacqua la Masa, Venice (2000). Kiarostami has won several awards, including the Glory to the Filmmaker Award, Venice Film Festival (2008); World’s Great Masters Award, Kolkata International Film Festival (2007); the Gold Leopard of Honor, Locarno Film Festival (2005); and Fellowship of the British Film Institute (2005). In 2000, at the San Francisco Film Festival, Kiarostami was awarded the Akira Kurosawa Prize for Lifetime Achievement in Directing, but gave it instead to veteran Iranian actor Behrooz Vossoughi for his contribution to Iranian cinema. He has also won the Silver Lion, Venice Film Festival (1999); Palme d’Or, Cannes Festival (1997); Federico Fellini Gold Medal, UNESCO (1997); Pier Paolo Pasolini Award (1995); François Truffaut Award (1993); and Prix Roberto Rossellini (1992). His work is also the subject of numerous monographies in many languages.
90 BIOGRAPHIES
91
Taraneh Hemami
Abbas Kiarostami
Interdisciplinary visual artist Taraneh Hemami was born in Iran in 1960, received a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Painting & Drawing from the University of Oregon, Eugene (1982) and a Master of Fine Arts in Painting (Distinction) from the California College of the Arts, Oakland, California (1991). She lives in San Francisco, and exhibits, lectures, teaches and curates internationally.
Film-maker, photographer and poet Abbas Kiarostami was born in Tehran in 1940, where he lives today. He studied painting and graphic design at the Tehran University School of Fine Arts (1958-1961), and first worked in advertising as a painter, designer, and illustrator, designing posters and shooting advertisements for Iranian television. Later he helped establish the film-making department at the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (Kanoon), where he started directing his own short films and later his first feature films and documentaries.
Hemami’s numerous solo shows include the forthcoming Fabrications, curated by Rose Issa Projects at Leighton House Museum, London (2011); Depth of Surface, San Francisco State Fine Arts Gallery, (2010); Evocations, Rose Issa Projects, London (2008); Most Wanted, Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco (2007); Remembrances, Persian Cultural Center, Berkeley, California (2003); and Hall of Reflections, San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery (2002). She participates in numerous group shows, which most recently include One Day, Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco (2009); Theory of Survival, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco (2008); We Remember the Sun, San Francisco Art Institute (2008); Global Eyes, Siggraph International Exhibition, San Diego, California (2007); Stitches in Time, ArtsChange, Richmond, California (2007); Intimate Bodies/Public Spaces, Mina Dresden, San Francisco (2006); On the Edge of Culture, Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (2006); Represent, Oliver Art Center, Oakland, California (2005); Of Past and Present, Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco (2005); Sacred Spaces, Berkeley Arts Center, California (2004); The Drawing Project, Vamiali Art Gallery, Athens (2004); Sharjah VI International Biennial, United Arab Emirates (2003); 25 Years of Separation, Articultural Gallery, Pasadena, California (2003); Reconstructing Reality, The Oakland Gallery, California (2001); Alchemy, MY Art Prospects, New York (2001); and Re-Counting, The Judah L. Magnes Museum, Berkeley, California (2001). Hemami’s works are in several public collections, including The British Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
He is the writer-director of 38 films, including Certified Copy (2010); Shirin (2008); Ten (2002); The Wind Will Carry Us (1999); A Taste of Cherry (1997), which won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival; Through the Olive Trees (1994); Close Up (1990); Homework (1990); and Where is my Friend’s House? (1987). Kiarostami’s photography is also exhibited extensively around the world. His most recent solo shows include Abbas Kiarostami: Roads and Rain, Purdey Hicks Gallery, London (2009); Abbas Kiarostami, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris (2007-2008) and Museum of Modern Art, New York (2007); Snow White, Stenersen Museum, Oslo (2006); The Roads and Untitled, La Casa Encendida, Madrid, and CCCB, Barcelona (2006); Los Caminos de Abbas Kiarostami, Malba – Collecion Costantini, Buenos Aires (2006); Le Strade di Kiarostami, Museo Provinciale di Potenza, Italy (2006); Walking with the Wind – The Roads and Untitled, Kumho Art Museum, Seoul and Palazzo d’Accursio, Bologna (2005); Forest Without Leaves, Victoria & Albert Museum, London; Triptych Photographs of Abbas Kiarostami, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tehran (2004-2005); Photographies et Films, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nantes (2004-2005); The Roads of Abbas Kiarostami, Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki, Fundaçào Armando Alvares Penteado, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes, Lisbon, Portugal, Castel dell’Ovo, Naples and Fondazione Sandretto Rebaudengo, Turin (2003-2004); and Field of Vision, Fondazione Bevilacqua la Masa, Venice (2000). Kiarostami has won several awards, including the Glory to the Filmmaker Award, Venice Film Festival (2008); World’s Great Masters Award, Kolkata International Film Festival (2007); the Gold Leopard of Honor, Locarno Film Festival (2005); and Fellowship of the British Film Institute (2005). In 2000, at the San Francisco Film Festival, Kiarostami was awarded the Akira Kurosawa Prize for Lifetime Achievement in Directing, but gave it instead to veteran Iranian actor Behrooz Vossoughi for his contribution to Iranian cinema. He has also won the Silver Lion, Venice Film Festival (1999); Palme d’Or, Cannes Festival (1997); Federico Fellini Gold Medal, UNESCO (1997); Pier Paolo Pasolini Award (1995); François Truffaut Award (1993); and Prix Roberto Rossellini (1992). His work is also the subject of numerous monographies in many languages.
92 BIOGRAPHIES
93
Farhad Moshiri
Najaf Shokri
Painter and multi-media artist Farhad Moshiri was born in 1963 in Shiraz, Iran and graduated in Fine Arts at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in 1984. He now lives and works between Paris and Tehran.
Photographer Najaf Shokri was born in Iran in 1980, where he lives today. He graduated with a BA in Photography from the University of Tehran, Iran in 2004 and he has taught photography at the Azad University, Qazvin, Iran (2006-2007).
Selected recent solo exhibitions include Nothing Serious at the Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg (2010); Farhad Moshiri at the Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris (2009); Home Sweet Home at the Galerie Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels (2008); Candy Store at The Third Line, Dubai (2007); Sweet Dreams at the Daneyal Mahmood Gallery, New York (2007); Farhad Moshiri at the Kashya Hildebrand Gallery, New York (2004); and Reservoirs of Memories, Rose Issa Projects at Leighton House Museum, London (2003). Selected recent group exhibitions include Iran, Inside Out, Chelsea Art Museum, New York (2009); Word into Art, DIFC, Dubai (2008) and the British Museum, London (2006); Iran.com at the Museum of New Art, Freiburg, Germany (2006); V-Day at the Kashya Hildebrand Gallery, New York (2006); After the Revolution, KM Kulturunea Erakustaretoa, San Sebastian, Spain (2005); Almost Nothing, Extraspazio, Rome (2005); Iran Under the Skin, CCCB, Barcelona (2004); It’s Hard to Touch the Real, Kunstverein, Munich (2004); Haft at l’Espace Landowski, Ville De Boulogne-Billancourt, France (2004); and Far Near Distance, curated by Rose Issa at the House of World Cultures, Berlin (2004). Moshiri’s work is in several public collections worldwide, including the British Museum, London and Virginia Museum of Fine Art, USA. He also features in the publication Far Near Distance: Contemporary Positions of Iranian Artists, edited by Martin Hager and Shaheen Merali, with an essay by Rose Issa (Haus der Kulturen Der Welt, 2004).
His solo exhibitions include Irandokht, University of Tehran (2010); Irandokht, Asrar Cultural Center, Sabzevar City, Iran (2008); Bahar-e-Irani (NoRooz), Aria Gallery, Tehran (2008); Shahrzad, Tehran University Gallery (2008); Love, Mehrva Gallery, Tehran (2006); Sifa, Mah-e-mehr Gallery, Tehran (2005); A Necessity for Apology from the Axe to the Tree, Farhang Gallery, Delfan, Iran (2001); and The Men of Acron and Gun, Farhang Gallery, Delfan, Iran (2000). He has also taken part in several group exhibitions, including Gerdab: Is Photography Art?, Boomrang Art Gallery, Tehran (2010); New Art, Saba Gallery, Tehran (2007); Iran First Photo Expo, Tehran (2006); Iranian Artists, Holir Gallery, Kurdistan, Iraq (2005); In Memoriam: Kaveh Golestan, The House of Artists, Tehran (2004); The Broken Roof of Bam, Niavaran Cultural Center, Tehran (2003); Iran: the Land of Peace, Niavaran Cultural Centre, Tehran (2002); Image of the Year, House of Iranian Artists (Khane Honarmandan-e-Iran), Tehran (2002-2008); and Young Photographers, Abhar Cultural Center, Abhar City, Iran (2000).
92 BIOGRAPHIES
93
Farhad Moshiri
Najaf Shokri
Painter and multi-media artist Farhad Moshiri was born in 1963 in Shiraz, Iran and graduated in Fine Arts at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in 1984. He now lives and works between Paris and Tehran.
Photographer Najaf Shokri was born in Iran in 1980, where he lives today. He graduated with a BA in Photography from the University of Tehran, Iran in 2004 and he has taught photography at the Azad University, Qazvin, Iran (2006-2007).
Selected recent solo exhibitions include Nothing Serious at the Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg (2010); Farhad Moshiri at the Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris (2009); Home Sweet Home at the Galerie Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels (2008); Candy Store at The Third Line, Dubai (2007); Sweet Dreams at the Daneyal Mahmood Gallery, New York (2007); Farhad Moshiri at the Kashya Hildebrand Gallery, New York (2004); and Reservoirs of Memories, Rose Issa Projects at Leighton House Museum, London (2003). Selected recent group exhibitions include Iran, Inside Out, Chelsea Art Museum, New York (2009); Word into Art, DIFC, Dubai (2008) and the British Museum, London (2006); Iran.com at the Museum of New Art, Freiburg, Germany (2006); V-Day at the Kashya Hildebrand Gallery, New York (2006); After the Revolution, KM Kulturunea Erakustaretoa, San Sebastian, Spain (2005); Almost Nothing, Extraspazio, Rome (2005); Iran Under the Skin, CCCB, Barcelona (2004); It’s Hard to Touch the Real, Kunstverein, Munich (2004); Haft at l’Espace Landowski, Ville De Boulogne-Billancourt, France (2004); and Far Near Distance, curated by Rose Issa at the House of World Cultures, Berlin (2004). Moshiri’s work is in several public collections worldwide, including the British Museum, London and Virginia Museum of Fine Art, USA. He also features in the publication Far Near Distance: Contemporary Positions of Iranian Artists, edited by Martin Hager and Shaheen Merali, with an essay by Rose Issa (Haus der Kulturen Der Welt, 2004).
His solo exhibitions include Irandokht, University of Tehran (2010); Irandokht, Asrar Cultural Center, Sabzevar City, Iran (2008); Bahar-e-Irani (NoRooz), Aria Gallery, Tehran (2008); Shahrzad, Tehran University Gallery (2008); Love, Mehrva Gallery, Tehran (2006); Sifa, Mah-e-mehr Gallery, Tehran (2005); A Necessity for Apology from the Axe to the Tree, Farhang Gallery, Delfan, Iran (2001); and The Men of Acron and Gun, Farhang Gallery, Delfan, Iran (2000). He has also taken part in several group exhibitions, including Gerdab: Is Photography Art?, Boomrang Art Gallery, Tehran (2010); New Art, Saba Gallery, Tehran (2007); Iran First Photo Expo, Tehran (2006); Iranian Artists, Holir Gallery, Kurdistan, Iraq (2005); In Memoriam: Kaveh Golestan, The House of Artists, Tehran (2004); The Broken Roof of Bam, Niavaran Cultural Center, Tehran (2003); Iran: the Land of Peace, Niavaran Cultural Centre, Tehran (2002); Image of the Year, House of Iranian Artists (Khane Honarmandan-e-Iran), Tehran (2002-2008); and Young Photographers, Abhar Cultural Center, Abhar City, Iran (2000).
94 BIOGRAPHIES
95
Mitra Tabrizian
Rose Issa
Mitra Tabrizian was born in Tehran. She studied Film and Photography at the University of Westminster, London, where she now lectures in photography.
Rose Issa is a curator, writer and producer who has championed visual art and film from the Arab world and Iran for nearly 30 years. She has lived in Iran, Lebanon, France and, for the last 25 years, London, where from her private project space in Kensington she showcases upcoming and established artists, and produces exhibitions and publications with public and private institutions worldwide.
Projects for 2011 include solo shows at Project B Contemporary Art, Milan and the Leila Taghinia-Milani Heller Gallery, New York. Her several recent solo exhibitions include Mitra Tabrizian at the Albion Gallery, London (2009); This is That Place, curated by Rose Issa at Tate Britain, London (2008); The Wall House Project, Noorderlicht Foundation, The Netherlands (2007); and Mitra Tabrizian at the Museum of Modern Art, Stockholm (2006); BKK, Bilbao (2004); and Folkwang Museum, Germany (2003). Her many group exhibitions include Twenty-first Century, National Gallery of Modern Art, Queensland (2010-2011) and Far Near Distance, curated by Rose Issa at the House of World Culture, Berlin (2004). Tabrizian’s work is in several public collections, including the Arts Council of Great Britain, Victoria & Albert Museum, and National Museum of Photography, Film & Television in the UK; the Museum of Modern Art, Stockholm; Folkwang Museum, Germany; Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo; Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; San Francisco Museum of Art, California; Noorderlicht Foundation, the Netherlands; Alvar Aalto Museum, Finland; and National Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand. Mitra Tabrizian features in several publications, including This is That Place, by TJ Demos & Rose Issa (Tate Publishing, London, 2008); Beyond the Limits, by Stuart Hall, Christopher Williams, Francette Pacteau, Homi Bhabha et al (Steidl, 2004); and Correct Distance by Griselda Pollock (Cornerhouse, Manchester, 1990).
Rose Issa has served as guest curator for numerous private and public institutions, including the Beirut Exhibition Center (2011-10); Bluecoat Arts Centre, Liverpool (2010); the Tate Britain, London (2008); European Parliament (2008); the State Museum of Oriental Art, Moscow (2007); the Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg (2007); ING Bank, Geneva (2007); the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (2006); the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), Berlin (2004); The CCCB (Contemporary Cultural Centre), Barcelona (2003); IFA - Institut fur Auslandsbezeihungen (2002-3), Germany; Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam (1996-1997); the Barbican Art Centre (2001, 1995); and The Leighton House Museum (ongoing, since 1992). She also advises public and private art institutions on their loans and acquisitions of contemporary artworks from the Middle East, including The British Museum; The Imperial War Museum; The Museum of Mankind; The Victoria & Albert Museum; The National Museums of Scotland; The Los Angeles County Museum of Art; The Smithsonian Institution (Sackler/Freer Gallery and National Museum of African Arts); The World Bank, Washington DC; and The National Gallery of Jordan. She was a Jury member for the National Pavillions at the 50th Venice Biennale (2003) and for the Mondriaan Foundation, Amsterdam (2006). In addition she has collaborated with the Written Art Foundation, Frankfurt (2011); Oriel Mostyn Gallery, Wales (2010); Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane, Australia (2009); Paul Klee Museum, Bern (2009); Belvedere Museum, Vienna (2009) and Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin (2009). In 1982 Rose Issa launched the first-ever Arab Film Festival in Paris and worked with the Delegations Etrangères at the Cannes Film Festival (1983-1985). For a further 26 years until 2008, she curated Arab and Iranian film seasons in Britain and abroad. She was special advisor to The Berlinale (2003-2007); the International Rotterdam Film Festival (1996-2002); the London International Film Festival (1987-2003); and The British Film Institute (1988-1995). She also curated Arab and Iranian film seasons at The National Film Theatre (Hollywood on the Nile, 2003; Art and Life: The New Iranian Cinema, 1999; First Arab Film Festival, 1987); and the Barbican (Unveiled Lives: Women and Iranian Cinema, 2001; Melodramas, Comedies, and Mysteries: North African Film, 1995). In addition she curated a season of Iranian films for Britain’s Channel 4 (2005) and collaborated with them on Cinema Iran, a series of documentaries on Iranian cinema. She also realised the documentary, Moving Pictures: Tunisian Women Film Directors, for BBC2 TV (1995).
94 BIOGRAPHIES
95
Mitra Tabrizian
Rose Issa
Mitra Tabrizian was born in Tehran. She studied Film and Photography at the University of Westminster, London, where she now lectures in photography.
Rose Issa is a curator, writer and producer who has championed visual art and film from the Arab world and Iran for nearly 30 years. She has lived in Iran, Lebanon, France and, for the last 25 years, London, where from her private project space in Kensington she showcases upcoming and established artists, and produces exhibitions and publications with public and private institutions worldwide.
Projects for 2011 include solo shows at Project B Contemporary Art, Milan and the Leila Taghinia-Milani Heller Gallery, New York. Her several recent solo exhibitions include Mitra Tabrizian at the Albion Gallery, London (2009); This is That Place, curated by Rose Issa at Tate Britain, London (2008); The Wall House Project, Noorderlicht Foundation, The Netherlands (2007); and Mitra Tabrizian at the Museum of Modern Art, Stockholm (2006); BKK, Bilbao (2004); and Folkwang Museum, Germany (2003). Her many group exhibitions include Twenty-first Century, National Gallery of Modern Art, Queensland (2010-2011) and Far Near Distance, curated by Rose Issa at the House of World Culture, Berlin (2004). Tabrizian’s work is in several public collections, including the Arts Council of Great Britain, Victoria & Albert Museum, and National Museum of Photography, Film & Television in the UK; the Museum of Modern Art, Stockholm; Folkwang Museum, Germany; Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo; Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; San Francisco Museum of Art, California; Noorderlicht Foundation, the Netherlands; Alvar Aalto Museum, Finland; and National Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand. Mitra Tabrizian features in several publications, including This is That Place, by TJ Demos & Rose Issa (Tate Publishing, London, 2008); Beyond the Limits, by Stuart Hall, Christopher Williams, Francette Pacteau, Homi Bhabha et al (Steidl, 2004); and Correct Distance by Griselda Pollock (Cornerhouse, Manchester, 1990).
Rose Issa has served as guest curator for numerous private and public institutions, including the Beirut Exhibition Center (2011-10); Bluecoat Arts Centre, Liverpool (2010); the Tate Britain, London (2008); European Parliament (2008); the State Museum of Oriental Art, Moscow (2007); the Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg (2007); ING Bank, Geneva (2007); the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (2006); the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), Berlin (2004); The CCCB (Contemporary Cultural Centre), Barcelona (2003); IFA - Institut fur Auslandsbezeihungen (2002-3), Germany; Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam (1996-1997); the Barbican Art Centre (2001, 1995); and The Leighton House Museum (ongoing, since 1992). She also advises public and private art institutions on their loans and acquisitions of contemporary artworks from the Middle East, including The British Museum; The Imperial War Museum; The Museum of Mankind; The Victoria & Albert Museum; The National Museums of Scotland; The Los Angeles County Museum of Art; The Smithsonian Institution (Sackler/Freer Gallery and National Museum of African Arts); The World Bank, Washington DC; and The National Gallery of Jordan. She was a Jury member for the National Pavillions at the 50th Venice Biennale (2003) and for the Mondriaan Foundation, Amsterdam (2006). In addition she has collaborated with the Written Art Foundation, Frankfurt (2011); Oriel Mostyn Gallery, Wales (2010); Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane, Australia (2009); Paul Klee Museum, Bern (2009); Belvedere Museum, Vienna (2009) and Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin (2009). In 1982 Rose Issa launched the first-ever Arab Film Festival in Paris and worked with the Delegations Etrangères at the Cannes Film Festival (1983-1985). For a further 26 years until 2008, she curated Arab and Iranian film seasons in Britain and abroad. She was special advisor to The Berlinale (2003-2007); the International Rotterdam Film Festival (1996-2002); the London International Film Festival (1987-2003); and The British Film Institute (1988-1995). She also curated Arab and Iranian film seasons at The National Film Theatre (Hollywood on the Nile, 2003; Art and Life: The New Iranian Cinema, 1999; First Arab Film Festival, 1987); and the Barbican (Unveiled Lives: Women and Iranian Cinema, 2001; Melodramas, Comedies, and Mysteries: North African Film, 1995). In addition she curated a season of Iranian films for Britain’s Channel 4 (2005) and collaborated with them on Cinema Iran, a series of documentaries on Iranian cinema. She also realised the documentary, Moving Pictures: Tunisian Women Film Directors, for BBC2 TV (1995).
parastou forouhar 96 ZEIT DER SCHMETTERLINGE (Time of Butterflies), TITLE FOR digital print onSECTION epson photo paper glossy, 2011