[LONDON]
Abbas Akhavan Exhibit
Delfina Foundation has announced the first London solo exhibition of site-specific works by Toronto-based Iranian artist Abbas Akhavan.
Born in Tehran, Abbas Akhavan currently lives and works in Toronto. His practice ranges from site-specific ephemeral installations to drawing, video and performance.
Delfina Foundation is an independent, non- profit foundation dedicated to facilitating artistic exchange and developing creative practice through residencies, partnerships and public program.
The exhibit runs October 9-November 20 2012 at Delfina Foundation, 31 Catherine Place,
London.
[UNITED STATES]
‘I Am Neda’ Wins Awards
Persepolis Pictures announced recently that the short film, ‘I Am Neda’ is the proud winner of the ‘Moondance Atlantis Award’ for Best Film Score at the Moondance International Film Festival. The music for ‘I Am Neda’ was all original music composed by an Italian composer Rino Amato, who is based in Rome, Italy. Composer Amato speaks very little English and Director KianSadighi speaks zero Italian. But they found an understanding and a communication through the language of music to create what is now the original score for ‘I Am Neda’.
‘I Am Neda’ is also the official selection at the Burbank International Film Festival, running from 5th – 9th September, 2012. After 13 festival nominations and 3 wins thus far, Persepolis Pictures pushes ‘I Am Neda’ into the next chapter of its inspiring journey and vies the Oscars!
‘I Am Neda’ will be screening at the Laemmle Theatres in Los AngelesSeptember 14- 16.
Visit persepolispictures.com for more info.
[QATAR]
I Dream of Jeannie Exhibit
This fall the Iranian-American artist Eric Parnes will be premiering new works inspired by the Orientalist 1960s TV sitcom “I Dream of Jeannie” in his first solo show in the Middle East at Doha’s Katara Cultural Village.
Parnes, whose work often applies Iranian iconography, text, textile, and ceramic patterns to incongruous mass-produced objects like soccer balls, deck chairs, or cars, coined the term “Neo Orientalism™” to describe what he calls in his artist’s statement “a specific notation of aesthetic exchange between the East and the West within the framework of popular culture.” It refers not only to Westerners’ enduring habit of seeing the Middle East as an otherworldly and exotic place, but also tracks the effects of this apparent exoticism when it is seen by Middle Eastern audiences.
“I Dream of Jeannie: I See Demons” is on view at the Katara Cultural Village in Doha, Qatar, October 23-November 24.
[IRAN] Giant Woven Carpet Could be Guinness World Record
A giant carpet, woven by over a thousand Iranian artists, has entered the Guinness Records book as the largest handmade rug in the world.
The carpet- 133 meters long and almost 48 meters wide- was designed by Iranian artist Ali Khaliqi and made by some 1,200 artists, Iran’s Press TV reports.
It took those involved 18 months to create the 5,634 square meter masterpiece, which weighs 48 tons. The design now covers the floor at the Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi.
Iran is the world’s largest producer and exporter of handmade carpets, generating three quarters of the world’s total trade.
[OHIO]
Iranian, Women, Artist
Sharareh Khosravani’s mixed media ‘Untitled #2’ is part of Iranian, Women, Artists at Passage Gallery in North College Hill through September 21.
At Passage Gallery, Sharareh Khosravani and Fazilat Soukhakian make art that speaks to their lives. Soukhakian’s “This Is Me” series find elderly subjects hiding behind their younger images “when they stood against the former government and changed it 32 years ago…”
Now they are “forced to alter their beliefs, even their appearance, due to new restrictions imposed on them.” Khosravani’s artist’ statement notes, “As an adolescent, growing up in Iran, I was surrounded by war. My work reflects my past experiences of war and encompasses themes of violence, trauma, worries, disappointment.”
North College Hill Schools, 1731 Goodman Ave., North College Hill. 513-931-8181.