Visual Dialogues | The Book of Kings | Shirin Neshat & Fereydoun Ave | March 2019
Secret of Words
Mehran Mohajer & Sadegh Tirafkan
November 2006
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Total Arts Gallery at the Courtyard and Massoud Nader Present exhibition of Photography by Sadegh Tirafkan with support of Silk Road Gallery this exhibition is accompanied by photographs of Mehran Mohajer Sadegh Tirafkan is a persevering artist who navigates through time and culture in search of his place and identity as an Iranian man in the contemporary world. The medium of photography has become his main platform to construct powerful visual plays, using a combination of elements that he seasons sufficiently with symbolism.
The significance of symbolism throughout Tirafkan’s body of work comes from his Persian root in which direct dialogue is rarely used, but frequently replaced by symbolic languages. How do you inform a culture that has three thousand years of history, rich in tradition and essentially a homogenous and male dominated society? Tirafkan expresses his concerns through images of numerous self-portraits and portraits of friends. He once said, "I began photography by recording what surrounded me. Now I take what is around me in the studio and make it into what I see through the prism of my life and culture." Tirafkan poses himself and others in the studio time after time to explore the meaning of being a contemporary Iranian. Blending tradition, history and memory, he recreates visually compelling scenes that build visceral connection to his ancient country. And this is where the strength and beauty of Tirafkan's work lie.
In reinventing and revisiting Iranian tradition he is also criticizing and challenging his ancestors' long-standing authority. In spite the highly eloquent appearances; I see two hidden trends in his work, which the artist has perhaps introduced even without realizing it: a theatrical staging of all the historic drama of his country, all the painful events of which he experienced intensely, and a discreet journey towards a spirituality which emanates from his whole vision. Here, Tirafkan surreptitiously rejoins the mystical quest which remains, whether we like it or not, the key-stone of any metaphysical edifice of the Iranian world. Born in Iran in 1965, Tirafkan trained as a photographer at the University of Fine Arts in Tehran. Since the late 1990’s he has participated in numerous solo exhibitions and group shows, in Tehran, Paris and New York.
Tirafkan’s work offers an eloquent meditation on modern Iranian man’s relationship to his past and on his search for a meaningful identity in the present. Identity, history and memory have been central concerns in the work of non-western artists since the era of colonialism. Tirafkan, frequently using himself as a model, revisits and reinvents these themes in his series of enigmatic yet visually compelling photographs. He uses words and symbols to communicate with the audience and
Abstract & Lanscape
Mohseni Kermanshahi
February 2005
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A. Mohseni was born in 1960, in Kermanshah west of Iran. He started painting with Master Rahim Navesi before moving to Tehran. He held his first one-man show in 1994 and has come a long way from his humble beginnings. Landscape, traditional life and nature were always his main subjects to paint and after moving to UAE he found this passion in the local scenery. T
his exhibition would be an exceptional one in Mohseni’s career since he is entering a new period after 10 years of professionally painting landscapes and still life witch is still the close to Mohseni’s heart in a different way. Mohseni has participated in more than 40 solo and group exhibitions in Iran including Tehran Contemporary Art Museum, Australia, Kuwait and the UAE. Mohseni has won a special award from Tehran Contemporary Art Museum as the best Artist of the year in 1996. Mohseni has published 2 books, which are: 1. Nature in the painting of Abdol Hossein Mohseni 2. Painting of Abdol Hossein Mohsenis He is working on two new books at present.
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Total Arts
A Pioneer on the Dubai Art Scene
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Total Arts at the Courtyard began as a passion project, born from a clear need for a space where Dubai’s creative community could gather, exchange, and grow. At a time when the city offered few platforms for artistic expression beyond the commercial or conventional, Total Arts sought to fill that gap.
Founded in 1992 as one of Dubai’s first dedicated art spaces, which relocated to The Courtyard after the building’s inauguration in 1998. It was the very first gallery in what is now known as Al Quoz Creative Zone (formerly industrial district). As Dubai evolved, so did Total Arts. It gradually moved beyond a commercially focused gallery model into an interdisciplinary platform for experimentation, dialogue, and collaboration. From early on, it embraced conceptual and multidisciplinary practices—visual art, photography, performance, text, and sound—often in conversation with architecture, design, and craft. Its exhibitions consistently pushed boundaries, challenging market-driven norms and introducing process-driven, raw, and sometimes socially or poetically charged works.
Since 1998, Total Arts has hosted more than 500 exhibitions alongside workshops, lectures, film screenings, book launches, and poetry readings. Its curatorial approach is rooted in context, care, and curiosity—often introducing underrepresented voices while creating space for cross-cultural encounters and long-term artistic relationships. It has become known as an “in-between space”: one that develops and grows with each exhibition.
Beyond its own walls, Total Arts has collaborated with regional and international institutions including Jameel Arts Centre, the Beyeler Foundation, Carnegie Museum of Art, and the Watermill Center, among others. It has also advised, curated, and produced major commissions and programs for platforms such as the World Islamic Economic Forum (MOCAFEST), Dubai Chamber of Commerce, Emirates NBD, and more—projects that sit at the intersection of art, society, and global dialogue.
At its core, Total Arts is guided by the belief that art cannot be confined within gallery walls. It must spill into lived experience—becoming a site of possibility where art can provoke, console, connect, and transform. Quietly persistent, it has set its own rhythm: nurturing long-term relationships with artists, continually rethinking what an art space can be, and remaining widely regarded as a pioneering force in Dubai’s contemporary art landscape.
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