TMoCA exhibition to explore how Iran is presented and conceptualized in artworks

TMoCA exhibition to explore how ‘Iran’ is presented and conceptualized in artworks

TEHRAN – The exhibition “In Search of Iran: In the Collection of the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art” will open on Saturday afternoon at the museum.

It explores how “Iran” is presented and conceptualized through the lens of various artists among the works kept in the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (TMoCA), Mehr reported.

The exhibition addresses the national significance of the TMoCA collection within the history of contemporary Iranian art by examining the diverse ways artists experience and interpret “Iran.”

The exhibition statement reads: “We do not ask which work is ‘more Iranian’; rather, we ask how Iran has been the subject of seeing and representation, and how it persists within the modes of seeing and creating. The inquiry into Iranian identity in this exhibition begins with the distinct experiences of artists—experiences that are sometimes explicitly the subject of the work, and sometimes manifest in the style of expression and construction. Belonging to Iran can be accompanied by the memory of a place, daily life, migration, or a sense of loss, taking on different forms in the works of each artist”.

“The exhibition ‘In Search of Iran’ invites the viewer to re-examine their own conception of Iran when encountering these works. In these pieces, soil sometimes becomes the very material of the work, writing turns into a way of seeing, and objects preserve the traces of life and human memory. The presence of familiar symbols does not predetermine the meaning of the work, nor does their absence necessarily signify a disconnection from the Iranian experience”.

“The seven sections of the exhibition, each guided by a specific question, offer parallel paths for the viewer to interpret the works. These paths do not follow a chronological sequence of art history; instead, the visual and conceptual connections between the pieces allow for a confrontation with diverse interpretations. In this view, no single landscape, face, or motif serves as the sole representative of the Iranian experience."

The exhibition will feature over one hundred works from the Iranian Modern Art collection, including pieces by artists such as Sohrab Sepehri, Parviz Tanavoli, Parviz Kalantari, Hossein Zenderoudi, Farah Osouli, Reza Mafi, Mohammad Ehsaei, Bahman Mohassess, and others. It will be open to the public from Sunday, through mid-December.

Established in 1977, the museum has more than 4,000 items that include 19th- and 20th-century world-class Iranian, European, and American paintings, prints, drawings, and sculptures. Being the biggest collection of Western art in the Eastern world, it includes works from almost all artistic periods and movements.

The museum was designed by Iranian architect Kamran Diba, who employed elements from traditional Persian architecture. The building itself can be regarded as an example of contemporary art, in the style of an underground Guggenheim Museum.

Most of the museum area is located underground, with a circular walkway that spirals downwards, with galleries branching outwards. Western sculptures by artists such as Ernst, Giacometti, Magritte, and Moore can be found in the museum's gardens.

SS/SAB

source: tehrantimes.com