The good news is that Iranian art is alive and well. The bad news is that so much of the work cannot be shown publicly, or can be exhibited only for a few hours during an opening before being whisked into storage.
That’s the key paragraph in an article, brought to my attention by a friend, that was published last week in the International Herald Tribune. Written by Benjamin Genocchio, a former critic for The New York Times who is now editor of Art + Auction, it’s a good summary of what he calls “the paradoxes of Iran,” made visible through the art world.
Genocchio reports that he had a constant guide, just as one did in the old Soviet Union, and it too was a metaphor:
The Ministry of Islamic Culture and Guidance keeps a tight rein on what can and cannot be displayed, and every gallery owner I met had a story about being called in to the ministry and asked to explain and subsequently remove the artworks on their walls. Pieces deemed offensive or blasphemous expose dealer and creator to prosecution.
But artists are coping; many, the article says, are making daring work. (The above sample — though not particularly daring — is by Mohammed Eskandari.) They are also responding to the clapdown with quiet protests. This month,
several Tehran galleries hope to stage an impromptu joint exhibition of about 70 artists’ works devoted to flower imagery, an act of solidarity with Mehraneh Atashi, a photographer who was detained in January 2010 for documenting Tehran’s street protests. She was released on the condition that she start taking pictures of something more suitable, like the beauty of local horticulture.
Genocchio also reports that Shadi Ghadirian has established an online registry of Iranian artists called fanoosphoto.com, which also hosts exhibitions.
Another point, also a bit sad:
Officially, Iran reports that it receives around 10,000 tourists annually, a staggeringly low number considering its cultural attractions; Persepolis, capital of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, is one of the great archaeological sites in the region. Dubai, with little to offer beyond shopping and an annual art fair, gets about a million visitors a year.
Personally, I’d rather go to Tehran/Iran.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Azad Gallery, Tehran