Curators' Statement
Download the press release (PDF).
Since the 1979 Revolution, Iranians have been in a state of perpetual transition and transformation. The dramatic end of the Shah’s rule, the creation of the Islamic Republic, and the 8-year Iran-Iraq war have all contributed to the creation of one of the fastest growing diasporas in recent history. Nearly 30 years later, in an era dominated by the U.S.-led ‘War on Terror,’ contentious notions of the ‘Axis of Evil,’ and heightened global anxiety over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Iranians in Iran and those outside of its borders are finding themselves in the throes of individual, local, national, and global tensions -- and they are expressing their experiences and views in new and compelling ways.
Despite living in an environment where self-expression is limited and government censorship is often physically palpable, it is the young people of Iran who are pushing limits and transforming the cultural fabric of their society. Concurrently, Iranians living outside Iran have been grappling with the reality of their dual (and often dueling) identities in their relatively newly-formed hyphenated communities, creating new meanings for diasporic identity and culture.
TRANSFORM/NATION offers the unique opportunity for these culturally related, but geographically separated, communities to interact with one another via simultaneous exhibits in Washington, D.C. and Tehran, Iran. Via photography, paintings, installations, and films by artists from Iran, Europe and the United States, TRANSFORM/NATION brings the individual experience to a global conversation about identity, nationalism, and Iran’s place in the world.
Exhibition Events:
Thursday, June 21, 2007: Opening Reception
Ellipse Art Center
6:00-9:00pm
Thursday, July 12, 2007: Music Ensemble:
Enchanted Strings: Persian Classical Music
Ellipse Art Center
12:00-1:00pm
Wednesday, July 18, 2007: Presentation and performance:
The Power of a Cliche with Haleh Anvari (artist: Iran)
Bus Boys and Poets
7:00-10:00pm
Thursday, July 19, 2007: A Panel Discussion:
The Power of a Cliche: Exhibiting Iran.
Panelists: Haleh Anvari (artist, Iran); Maymanah Farhat (ArteEast Editor, New York); Leyla Pope, (Co-Curator, Switzerland); and, Afarin Rahmanifar (artist, US)
Ellipse Art Center
7:00-9:00pm