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Whispers of the East, No. 5 (detail),
Sadegh Tirafkan, 2006-07 |
Exhibition of
photography, art and short documentary films
28 September 2009 06 November 2009
London School of Economics and Political Science
Atrium Gallery
Old Building
Houghton Street
London WC2A 2AE
Challenging the media's representations of Tehran in the news, this exhibition
of art works and documentary films reintroduces Iran's dynamic capital in a way
that could only be described by the city's insiders, including rappers, artists,
writers, and photojournalists.
Organised by
Curated by
Exhibition: Malu Halasa
Documentaries: James Neil
LSE Arts Coordinator
Richard Hylton
Introduction
Sunk in permanent smog, tangled in traffic jams, suffused with the threat of
civil unrest, life in Tehran is chaotic and unpredictable. For a capital much in
the news, the city's secrets are well guarded.
Transit Tehran
explores unexpected facets of urban experience through the work of Iranian
artists Sadegh Tirafkan and Khosrow Hassanzadeh, photographer Kaveh Golestan,
graphic novelist Parsua Bashi and the generation of photojournalists who came of
age during the reformist press boom of the late 1990s. Newsha Tavakolian (named
'Best Young Photographer' of 2006 by
National
Geographic), Abbas Kowsari, Omid Salehi, Javad Montazeri, Peyman
Hooshmandzadeh, Majid Saeedi and Kian Amani, among many others, continue to
document the social transformation of their country despite increasing
government restrictions. The exhibition's art photography, art and short
documentary film season draw on Iran's rich visual and cultural heritage,
traditionally a place of resistance throughout the country's long history of
political turmoil.
This exhibition draws from the anthology
Transit
Tehran: Young Iran and Its Inspirations, published earlier this year
by Garnet Publishing and the Prince Claus Fund Library, with support from Iran
Heritage Foundation and Arts Council England.
Events
Transit I: Documentary Film Programme:
Wednesday, 14 October 2009, 7.15-8.45pm
New Theatre, East Building
Tehran Has No More
Pomegranates
Directed by Massoud Bakhshi, Iran 2007, documentary, 68 min. In Persian with
English subtitles.
Introduced by James Neil, followed by a Q+A by Jon Snow with Massoud Bakhshi, Dr
Nayareh Dalali, James Neil and Malu Halasa.
Tehran Has No More
Pomegranates
marks the arrival of a new auteur in Iranian cinema Massoud Bakhshi. The film
belongs to that rare breed: a collage 'cinι poem' of a great city metropolis.
Like its spiritual brethren
Berlin:
Symphony of a City and
Man with a
Movie Camera,
Pomegranates is at once suffused with a dizzying array of
photographs and never before seen archive film from the past century brought
together with a witty voiceover and a pulsating musical score by Mohsen Namjoo.
Shot over five years and deploying a range of experimental film devices, it
captures with humour and razor-sharp observation the transformation of Tehran
from rural village to city of dreams.
Transit II: Lecture
Programme:
Monday, 19 October 2009, 6.30-8pm
Wolfson Theatre, New Academic Building
Young Iran: Pictures,
Politics and Stories
by Malu Halasa, with illustrations and Q+A
Transit III: Documentary
Film Programme:
Wednesday, 21 October 2009, 6.30-8.30pm
New Theatre, East Building
Online Ayatollah
directed by Maziar Bahari, Iran 2001, documentary, 26 min, plus
Countdown
directed by Khatereh Hanachi, produced by Maziar Bahari and supported by the BBC
World Service Trust, Iran 2008, documentary, 50 min. Both documentaries in
Persian with English subtitles.
Online Ayatollah
shows a day in the life of Grand Ayatollah Youssef Sanei. At home in the holy
city of Qom, the Ayatollah advises on matters such as buying a house,
travelling, marriage and divorce, gives religious instruction and reaches a
world-wide audience through his website. He shares his office and a family meal
with filmmaker Maziar Bahari, and sheds light on one of the most misunderstood
professions in Iran, that of religious clerics. This short documentary film
reveals a traditional holy man offering very modern advice. Produced for Al
Jazeera (English), the documentary was made by Maziar Bahari, a Canadian/Iranian
journalist arrested in Tehran on June 21 while covering the Iranian elections
for Newsweek.
Countdown
directed by Khatereh Hanachi, produced by Maziar Bahari and supported by the BBC
World Service Trust, is a fly-on-the-wall documentary about 18-year-old Parisa
Pouladi who buries herself in books day and night in preparation for the
national college entrance exam. Along with more than a million other Iranian
high school graduates, Parisa hopes high marks will secure her a place in a
top-notch university. Less than half of all the students taking the exam will
pass. As the exam draws near, Parisa's parents' household like thousands of
others across the country begins to implode.
Transit Tehran exhibition
28 September 2009 06 November 2009
Monday-Friday 10am 8 pm
Tickets
Exhibition: Admission free
Films: Admission free
Lecture: Admission free
For tickets, RSVP
arts@LSE.ac.uk
Map & Directions
Enquiries
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