The
complexities and contradictions of Iranian society resemble
a reversible and endlessly shifting facade: everything is
both legal and illegal, easy and complicated,
sour and sweet. These changing parameters are clearly revealed
when looking at the case of Tehran's young artists
and their struggle for freedom against censorship, for information
in place of isolation and for energy instead of inaction.
Despite
these difficult conditions, the young
generation demonstrates a striking creativity and an enthusiastic
desire for knowledge and exchange. In a city where 70% of
the population is under 30 years old, the voice of the young
generation
is strong enough to have a consequential effect, but only
in the long-term. Some of these younger artists are producing
remarkable works without the
possibility of showing them to a large audience,
thus preventing the exploration of their potential on a wider
scale. Among them, Roxanna Daryadanesh, Shahab Fotouhi and
Neda Razavipour, Barbad Golshiri and Vahid Hakim provide
an impressive overview of the Tehran art scene's current
quality and dynamism. Through their work, these five artists
display an energetic use of art as a tool for the demonstration
of mental and physical constructions.
Iran’s millenary
cultural heritage and unique recent political history demand
a specific approach based on an analysis
of the current context and conditions. Tehran, the country's
political, economical and cultural center, is
currently running a gigantic architectural
promotion scheme. With its 14 million inhabitants and its
amplitude of 1,500 sq km, this megalopolis suffers from many
common urban
problems, such as severe pollution. This is mainly caused
by the perpetual traffic jams on the highways that cross
the capital.
The city itself provides a very challenging context and has
given birth to a fascinating branch of 'soft guerrillas'
that invert the traditional rules and codes: the impossible
becomes
possible through the use of subtle
camouflaging and language with double-meanings. Artists and
art institutions
also evolve along this thin line that
provides a space for creativity in between
government policies. They are engaged in a long-term fight
for the development of experimental spaces amidst conservative
agendas. However, some stable platforms have encouragingly
been set up over the last five years to assist the young
generation and to support its initiatives. Things seem to
be evolving
in a positive and optimistic way, marking the time for a
specific look at the current developments in this 2000-year-old
civilization.
In this context the international community's cooperation
remains the only positive side of the drama that occurred
with the December 2003 earthquake in Bam.
The multidisciplinary artists Shahab Fotouhi and Neda Razavipour
alternate between individual and collaborative projects.
They recently worked together on an ambitious public art
initiative.
After obtaining an exceptional permit, they installed 70
neon light boxes in the windows of a 30 meter high building
which
was under construction. In this way they offered the inhabitants
a poetic oasis in the middle of the usual landscape of concrete
and cranes.
Roxanna Daryadanesh first left Iran after the
revolution, at the age of ten, to live in the United States
with her family. She moved back to Tehran in 1998 to pursue
her career as a performance artist. The rigidity and strict
observation of laws concerning the use of images of women
and their bodies directly affect female performance artists.
Daryadanesh
is navigating in a field constantly under surveillance and
often has to deal with the police at the opening of her shows.
Barbad
Golshiri's series of videos, installations,
and photography expresses a remarkable balance between foreign
art influences and Iranian
resonances. Largely based on autobiographical
experiences, his work echoes a general desire for change,
but a change that excludes the possibility
of losing any of the Iranian cultural heritage and way of
life. Although the past has not been forgotten by the young
generation,
they refuse to accept the new rules established after the
revolution. In his
videopiece What has befallen us, Barbad?, Golshiri
transforms the obligation to cut his long hair before joining
the army into a creative and intense moment. When used in
neon-boxes, the video stills appear as arabesques, resembling
calligraphy.
The paintings of Vahid Hakim silently express his pensive
unrest. The precision and concentration developed in his
work reveal
a personal quest to
create mental islands of freedom in a restrained and isolating
context. Their contemplative attraction encourages introspection
and breathes fresh air into one’s imagination. Their
abstract power resides in a subtle combination of geometric
patterns inspired by Persian carpets and a perfect mix of
acrylic and vegetable colors.
Amiel Grumberg (1980-2004) |
