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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Yemen: Treasure Trove
November - December 2009
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Selection of photographs from a collaborative project “Yemen: Treasure Trove” realized in 2009 with participation of 11 photographs and a filmmaker among them: Samar Jodha, Kamran Jebreili, Jason Larkin, Katarina Premfors, Manuel Salazar, Simone Santi, Souheil Semaan, Dariush Zandi and filmmaker Nader Bagherpour.
Yemen, a fertile and wealthy land, is a country with over 7,000 years of history that to this day maintains its distinct character. The way of life, traditions and centuries old architecture make Yemen a living museum. Yemen, was once known to the Romans as Arabia Felix, is the land of Queen of Sheba, the origin of coffee, the caravans traveling between Indian Ocean through the desert to the Mediterranean Sea, the Bedouin, those tribes of desert-dwellers.
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Bounded on the west by the Red Sea and on the south by the Arabian Sea, with the great Rub al Khali desert to the north and east Yemen lies in a strategic position between troubled regions in Asia and Africa, and within the Arabian states, and new discoveries of oil and gas attract greed from all sides. Tensions affect the country both internally and externally.
The land of opposites, Bedouin tradition versus urbanization, globalized economic development versus traditional tribal economy, affirms its stability today of the firmly established concept of the patriarchal extended family, held together by economic, social and ethical factors, maintaining traditions and keeping strictly to their own norms.
In this series of photographs, Yemen is presented through the lens of acclaimed photographers who traveled to Yemen in March and May 2009; A treasure trove for all of them.
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The project has been initiated and organized by Total Arts in collaboration with Arabia Felix, Marco Livadiotti and Melanie Radicke. Yemenia, Universal Touring Company and Yemen Tourism supported this trip. This exhibition would not have been possible without the generous support of TruColour from Dubai.
