HerMaP Art Projects in Tehran: Immediate and Remote

2021
Curated by: Amirali Ghasemi

 New Media Society In collaboration with Aaran Projects  and 1001 Architectrctire,

17-31 December 2021

Opening date: 17 December at 4 – 8 pm

Visiting hours: Weekdays from 1 to 6 pm 

Fridays: from 4 to 8

(The Gallery is closed on Saturdays and Sundays)

Address: No. 5, Lolagar Alley, Neauphle-le-Château Street.

Immediate and Remote features: Mottle by Abel Korinsky & Orhan Kavrakoglu, u-form by Alice Pedroletti & Andrea Familari, Dustgift by Aron Rossman-Kiss, Ruderal Acts; Gardening Beyond the Wall by Arya Arabshahi & Love Di Marco, Intangible Heritage by Ehsan Hemat, TEHRAN OF TREES* by Goda Palekaite & Sina Seifee, Stories of Displacements by Saba Ghorbanalinejad & Timothée Gauvin.

* TEHRAN OF TREES will be performed by Naghmeh Manavi at 6 pm on Fridays during the exhibition days (Dec.17, 24 & 31)

Exhibition Curator: Amirali Ghasemi

Curator Assistant: Bahar Ahmadifard

Exhibition Design: 1001 Architecture

 

Curator's Note

Exhibition Collaborators: Rojia Forouhar, Mohammad Pourhassani, Sohrab Motabar, Soheil Soheili, Azadeh Behkish, Rana Salehi, Naghmeh Manavi & Bahar Ahmadifard

Immediate and Remote is a multimedia exhibition by 12 artists developing their projects around the Industrial Heritage and Living Archive in HerMap-Artistic Research Residency Program 

The pandemic affected the project and, therefore, transformed into an online residency. 

 The inevitable change made the role of collaborators and facilitators more critical in advancing the project. Due to the COVID-19 situation in Iran and Europe, the ‘remote collaborations’ substituted the ‘immediate presence of the artists in residence’ to better grasp their projects’ objects. Hence, various teams joined the program as project collaborators. They provided the artists with the essential knowledge and first-hand experiences they couldn’t access any longer. The results of these endeavors and extensive networked efforts are presented through seven multifaceted art projects, interactive pieces, archival installations, and film.

The threads of environment, future, history, literature & poetry, oral narrative, audio-visual landscapes, and the relation between space and objects each will unearth new connections with one another as they provoke actions, narratives, and imagined archives speculating for alternative answers. On another level, the exhibition also redefines intercultural relations by de-familiarizing “the immediate” and “the remote” and expanding them in various directions.

Besides, in an era when any dialogue turns increasingly complex, beyond reach, and even unimaginable, and all roads tend to end up in confrontations, this virtual togetherness, among artists and collaborators, stands as a fantastic chance to see oneself from reverse angles.

Parallel to the exhibited projects, the socio-historical, regional, cultural aspects, and sights from a unique industrial site is being investigated via a constellation of documentary photographs, records, a short film, and a timeline expanding over the 70 years of the Former Rayy Cement Plant. These installations result from months-long research in various archives and a few possible on-site visits by Tehran’s support and documentation teams. The part of the exhibition features contributions by Iranian photographers & researchers: Fereshteh Asadzadeh, Azadeh Behkish, Maryam Niazadeh, Siavash Naghshbandi, Amirali Ghasemi, Amin Yousefi & Hadi Zand.

On the occasion of the “Immediate and Remote “exhibition, a bilingual publication and an exhibition guide will debut featuring original contributions/texts/visuals by the artists on their projects and the twisted path of the emergence and decline of Iran’s first cement factory in a research essay written by Bahar Ahmadifard. 

In May 2021, the launch of the digital exhibition of the program sided with a brief presentation of HerMaP Art Projects and a two-day series of webinars were hosted by the Centre for Fine Arts Brussels – BOZAR (Belgium).

“Immediate and Remote” exhibition and publication hope to offer alternative tracks to witness, understand and perceive the industrial heritage and living archives; for further info, please click on the link below:

Hermapartprojects.org

HerMaP Art Projects Instagram: @hermapartprojects

Special thanks to Nazila Noebashari, Volker Redder, Farnaz Ghorbani, Nahal Fatehan, Shirin Mellatgohar, Hooyar Asadian, Golnaz Habibi, Jina Pezeshki, Sara Hosseini, Saba Arabshahi, Aaran Gallery Team & Amirhossein Khorshidfar

This project has been possible with the support of the DG Partnerships of the European Commission, the Heritage Management Organisation, the Cultural Section of the German Embassy, and the Centre for Fine Arts Brussels – BOZAR.

About

HerMaP Iran–Cultural Heritage Management Project is a 5-year project aiming at promoting Cultural Heritage in Iran. Its purpose is to enhance its value and potential for social development in collaboration with CSOs, local authorities, and the creative sector.

HerMaP has two distinct strands: a training strand on heritage management, with Iranian partners and coordinated by the Heritage Management Organization (2019 – 2023); and a cultural strand, managed by the cultural section of the German embassy and Centre for Fine Arts Brussels – BOZAR (Belgium) The latter consist of an Artistic Research Residency Program, Iran-Europe, offering a platform to reflect, re-use and re-activate Cultural Heritage through artistic means in collaboration with local artists and communities.

Special Thanks to Nazila Noebashari, Volker Redder, Farnaz Ghorbani, Nahal Fatehan, Shirin Mellatgohar, Hooyar Asadian, Golnaz Habibi, Jina Pezeshki, Saba Arabshahi, Amirhossein Khorshidfar, and  Aaran Gallery team.