A) The economic crisis ended up being costly for fine art although it left behind positive outcomes. What has been exhibited in Tehran galleries over recent years in most cases has been the reappearance of familiar artists whose works have been exhibited in solo or group shows. The stagnancy of the art market, however, caused most of these known artists to have no desire to show their work. The galleries, which had been moving in the safe margin of the economy for a considerable amount of time because of the absence of established artists, started to show works of artists who had not been seen so much or had recently emerged in the field. Even though the beginning of this crisis goes back to last year, the increase of such exhibitions in the current year, and especially in the past season, has been considerable.
B) The curated exhibitions are one of those phenomena that from last year up to today have gradually been accepted as a tradition in Tehran’s art scene. It needs to be emphasised that using the term “curated exhibition” and restraining from the term “curatorial project” is true to the nature of such exhibitions. If, in the past, fine art shows were only exhibited in the form of group or solo shows, these collections, although they feature a group of artists, do not have typical group show qualities. They are rather displayed with a particular theme: a theme that is proposed by the administrators or the works’ patron. Previously, in order to form group exhibitions, a group of artists would organise a particular group that usually did not last long. The final result usually consisted of works that were impossible for the artists to show in solo shows: pieces that were produced not as bodies of works, but as separate works of art, or works that in the artist’s estimation did not deserve to be in a solo show. Also, since the group shows were based on the artists’ connections and the development of art groups, the possibility of mixing between generations and exhibiting established artists next to emerging artists would be close to zero; except in the case of those exhibitions under the name of instructors and students. The curated exhibitions, however, broke these boundaries, and are based only on the theme of curated works without considering the artists’ professional careers. Such a procedure puts an emphasis on the authenticity of the work and its concepts. Although this process could raise substantial problems, it can also produce positive outcomes. One of the most important ones is introducing unseen artists as noted in part A. These are emerging artists who are not only shown within their own generations, but are also being seen alongside other artists.
C) Although in the past season a new gallery was not officially added to the list of galleries in the city, Assar Gallery (which had been closed for while) again became part of the art scene. This gallery started its work last year with a different approach to choosing and presenting artwork, but shortly after desisted from it. It was in October this year that, returning to its previous routine and also changing the building’s architecture and expanding the exhibition space, it started its work all over again.
D) It has been a period in which performance has drawn the attention of Iranian artists more than ever. In the past season the element of violence has been remarkably prominent to it. In a short time, two individual performances were staged in the same gallery (Azad Gallery): one was based on hurting the other, and one was about harming the self. Reviewing the period of famous performance artists in art history and investigating similar examples, we realise that they mostly break taboos in society. That is why they greatly influence social-political issues and often result in reforming major social and political policies. So far, Iranian performance art has precisely reflected the accepted culture in society. This means that, instead of breaking taboos, they have taken on designing, reviewing, and re-performing them symbolically.
E) Just a short while ago the name Pardis-i Mellat (Mellat Complex), with the middle name Cinema, was known as a complex to show movies. But two important events introduced its exhibition space. The first one was the fifth annual exhibition of Nasl-i Now (New Generation) that, like last year, was directed by Homa Galley—but with two major differences. One was the location of the exhibition, and the other was the Pirhashemi $10, 000 award (Pp) that was given to one of the artists, selected by Afshin PirHashemi. The second exhibition presented in Pardis-i Mellat was titled Javanan-i Pishrow (Pioneering Youth). Although it had problems with regard to quality, it attracted a great number of visitors.
F) Although the previous paragraphs were about art shows in recent months, this paragraph is about the events whose absence has been felt every day over the past two years. It is not long since the days when large exhibition spaces such as the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Saba Complex, Imam Ali Museum, etc. were available for fine art exhibitions in a professional way. Along with a major change in the directorship of cultural affairs in the country, over recent years once again private spaces have been turned into official representatives of fine art. Even though this occurrence is appealing—considering the nature of private spaces—the lack of such museum spaces makes the presentation of big art projects impossible for an indefinite period of time. |
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