Tehran’s colorful Nowruz celebration!

Tehran is a vibrant city full of life, culture, music and art. Every street corner grants the opportunity to explore what the city has to offer. This year’s Nowruz, or Persian New Year, was quite a celebration! The city of Tehran decorated itself with new artwork and installations.

Take a glimpse into the colorful Nowruz celebration! Picture credit to Real Iran.

Three Iranian women artists showcased at the Edward Hopper House Art Center

An artist’s vision can be inspired by the many things they experience throughout life; yet, going back to their roots is a persistently strong theme in their art. The Edward Hopper House Art Center is a strong believer of that idea and advocates artists from diverse backgrounds.

The Center’s latest exhibition, “Where We Are Standing: Contemporary Women Artists From Iran”, focuses on three Iranian women’s art. A combination of various media, photographs, and paintings tell their personal story. Roya Farrasat, Golnar Adili and Shabnam Ghazi all experienced Iran through different eyes and use their art to express it.

Carole Perry, the curator for the exhibit, explains in an interview with the New York Times that she chose Farrasat, Adili and Ghazi for the “unexpected parallels” in their work.

The exhibition will run at the Edward Hopper House Art Center until April 24th.

Universally Iranian: artists without borders

Iranian art faces certain expectations from the global audience. Matteo Lonardi from the Guardian tells the narrative of Iranian artists who have emigrated from their homeland and deal day to day with dualism in their art. “On one hand, they want to make art speaking to universal issues. On the other, the market may expect their work to reflect a homeland where they no longer live.”

In this interesting article, Leonardi showcases the stories of Iranian artists and how they navigate a world in which the market expects their work to look a certain way. Nicky Nodjoumi, Shirin Neshat, Bizan Bassiri, Taravat Talepasand, Fereydoun Ave, Taraneh Hemami, Y Z Kami, Mitra Fabian, Babak Golkar and Amir H Fallah share their stories and how that influences their personal artistic vision (Featured below).

Read more

FOCUS CONTEMPORARY TEHRAN at Contemporary Istanbul 2015

Shahryar Hatami, Study for A Fall

The 10th edition of Contemporary Istanbul closed on Sunday 15th November 2015 surpassing expectation with the attendance of more than 84,000 foreign collectors and VIP’s, art professionals, academicians and museum groups and art lovers from all over the world. The success of this year is shown in the total value of exhibited works amounting to 63 million Euros of which 64% were sold. This year Contemporary Istanbul brought 102 galleries from 24 territories, 790 artists and welcomed 23 galleries that took part for the first time.

This year, Contemporary Istanbul had a special focus on Iranian art through presenting works selected and brought by four of Tehran’s leading independent art galleries and one independent artistic foundation; Aaran Gallery, Assar Art Gallery, Dastan’s Basement, Shirin Art Gallery and Lajevardi Foundation. The fair this year was also host to a special selection of Iranian Modern Art loaned from the outstanding Mobarqa family’s private collection.

While Tehran being home to a vibrant and exciting art scene and more Iranian galleries and institutions today take part in international events and worldwide cultural collaborations, Focus Contemporary Tehran aimed to offer a strong selection of Iranian exhibitors, each with their precise approach, presenting a diverse range of works by some of the country’s most important and celebrated artists.

Sources: Aran Gallery Newsletter – 11/5/2015; Contemporary Istanbul Website http://contemporaryistanbul.com/

 

Exhibition of works by cartoonist Kambiz Derambakhsh

Suicide – a recent work by Kambiz Derambakhsh
(source: Shahrvand daily newspaper)

Iran’s House of Cartoon has exhibited a selection of works by veteran artist and cartoonist Kambiz Derambakhsh. The event dubbed ’40 Years, 40 Cartoons’ showcases a selection of most successful works created by Derambakhsh over the past 40 years.

Born in 1942, Derambakhsh is a prominent cartoonist, graphic designer and illustrator, whose works are housed at many Iranian and international art centers and museums such as the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, the Basel Museum of Caricatures, the Hiroshima Museum of Japan, the Anti-War Museum of Yugoslavia, the Istanbul Museum of Cartoons, and the Warsaw Museum of Caricatures. Derambakhsh is known for his talent in finding obscure themes for his creations and has received many awards at international competitions of different countries, including Switzerland, Turkey, Brazil, Germany, Yugoslavia and Italy. He was also granted the French Ordre National du Merite for his lifetime achievements in visual arts in 2014. He has written and compiled a number of books, which have been published in Iran and Italy. In 2013, the Michel Lafont Publishing in France released a selection of works created by Derambakhsh over the past 35 years in the form of a book.

Iranian House of Cartoon is affiliated with Tehran Municipality, located at No. 44, Golnabi (ketabi) St., Shariati Ave., Tehran, Iran. The exhibition opened on October 28, 2015 and will run until November 9.

Source: Payvand News – 10/30/15

Tehran Reinvented by Contemporary Art

Despite all the scarcities and problems that Iran faces, the country makes things happen. Even though many people see the country as an area of hardships, that is not entirely true, as there is new art evolving and developing in Tehran. Art professionals speak about Tehran and its art scene…..” 

– Courtesy: Hurriyet Daily News

To read the full article, click here.

Newsha Tavakolian Wins the 2015 Prins Claus Award

We are excited to learn that Iranian photographer and photojournalist Newsha Tavakolian wins the 2015 Prins Claus Award! Tavakolian will be presented with the prize by Prince Constantijn of The Netherlands at a ceremony held in the Amsterdam Royal Palace on December 2nd. As part of the award, Tavakolian will receive a prize of 100 thousand euros and exhibition of her work will be held in Amsterdam by the Prince Claus Fund Gallery from November 27th and March 4th.

Tavakolian, who is quite active on social media, posted a statement on her Facebook page, which you can read here:

Dear all,

I am extremely humbled and overwhelmed to have been chosen as the winner of the 2015 principal Prince Claus award. I will never forget this day in my life.

Unfortunately it is hard for me to enjoy this prize as much as I would like to, seeing the region where I work and live in flames and tens of thousands seeking refuge in faraway lands.

I had already decided to donate 13.000 euro’s to the Sheed award, a fully independent photography prize in Iran. They will use it for an annual grant for two young photographers, as well as for a 5 year long educational project for young Iranian documentary photographers.

The Mahak charity helps children with cancer. They treated my cousin Ali Reza who suffered from leukemia. Despite the fantastic and free care he did not make it and died age 10. I had long ago decided to support them, the Prince Claus award helps me to donate 10.000 euro’s for their charity.

Animals are the love of my life and there are several good organizations in Iran supporting animals in my country. I salute the often young volunteers who work day in day out in shelters. I will divide 7000 euro’s over some of these organizations
Today I have also decided to donate another 15.000 euro’s to an organization supporting Syrian and Iraqi refugees. I have worked in both their countries and want to give back to all the kindness Iraqi’s and Syrians always welcomed me with, despite the dire circumstances they live in.

Please help me find an organization that helps people in a good and transparent way. All suggestions are welcome. I will report on my Facebook when I made the donations.

I want to dedicate this Award to all colleagues who risk their lives telling stories of others that no one listens too.
Finally, my congratulations to the other winners and deepest gratitude to the Prince Claus Fund and the jury.

Newsha Tavakolian

You can view more of Tavakolian’s work on her website.

Congratulations to Tavakolian on her achievements!

[ Image via Prins Claus Fund ]

Newsha Tavakolian at East Wing Gallery

Photojournalist Newsha Tavakolian has an exhibition at East Wing Gallery. Running until September 3, 2015, Blank Pages of an Iranian Photo Album is Tavakolian’s testament to the complexities of her generation:

“The family photo album is the showcase for my generation. The yellowed albums and pictures of smiling children dressed up in their best clothes are testament to our hopes and dreams, but they end in blank pages and the moment when our parents stopped taking our pictures (…)

For me Iran is the country where I was born, I went to school here, started my career, and never left. As a photographer I have always struggled with how to perceive my society, with all its complexities and misunderstandings. For this project, I have decided to continue producing the photo albums of my generation. To add the pictures that were never taken of the way that life is for them now, as adults. I followed people who, in a sense, define this generation. They are interchangeable, thus representing many. This photo album is theirs; it is my vision of life in Iran now, unromantic and confined. Those who feature on the pages are interchangeable, placed randomly in the natural situation of what is or could be their daily lives.”

Born in 1981, Tavakolian is a self-taught photographer and one of only a handful of women who are photojournalists in Iran. She has covered international events such as the 1999 Student Uprising in Iran, the Iraq War, and other regional conflicts. Her work is published internationally in magazines and newspapers, including: Time Magazine, Newsweek, Stern, Le Figaro, Colors, The New York Times, Der Spiegel, Le Monde, NRC Handelsblad, The New York Times Magazine, and National Geographic.

In 2013, Tavakolian was the 5th laureate of the Carmignac Gestion Photojournalism Award. Her work has been displayed in dozens of international art exhibitions and has been on show in museums such as the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, LACMA in Los Angeles and the British Museum, which has also bought several of her prints.

You can view works from the exhibition at East Wing here, and learn more about Tavakolian and her work from her website.

[via East Wing]