Category Archives: Notes

Parkingallery Notes

Happy 2014! (with a brief report of 2013)

Parkingallery projects in collaboration with ABAN Gallery Mashhad will be screening THE WANDERING ISLANDS, a part of LIMITED ACCESS FOUR video program curated by Parkingallery Video Archive in Jan 2014.

Parkingallery’s founder and director Amirali Ghasemi, along with Neda Razavipour and Behrang Samadzadegan have been chosen as selection committee of VIDEOARTIST festival in ISFAHAN which will open in 3 venues in the city around mid Feb 2014.

and now a brief report some of our past activities in the 2nd half of 2013 includes projects in New York, Beijing, Sanandaj and Hormoz Island.

“Iran: Making Space for video” and “Unusual Encounters” are  lecture/screening programs which Amirali Ghasemi presented on behalf of Parkingallery Video Archive at department of Cinema Studies: Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. 

10th Beijing Independent Film Festival – Poster

The Invisible Present Tense, the video and experimental film program curated for the 42nd Rotterdam film festival by Parkingallery video archive after being shown at 36th Göteborg International Film Festival found its way to China at 10th Beijing Independent Film Festival in late Aug 2013.

Live program, video still from the recordings by Amir Bastan

“Live program” was designed as a collective live video/performance studio to perform, record and present/broadcast a four hour long program as a part of 4th Sanandaj contemporary arts festival. The crew decided to record interviews with the guests, artists and visitors of the event for archival use and future projects, after facing some technical and logistic issues. Participating artists were Anahita Hekmat, Borna Ahmadi, Amir Bastan, Maryam Oskouei, Amirali Ghasemi, Zarvan Rouhbakhshan & Mohammad Kalantari among others.

4th Hormoz Festival, Nov 2013 – Photo taken from the Group’s Page on Facebook

Hormoz New Art group invited parkingallery projects to collaborate with them in their various programs in Nov – Dec 2013. This has resulted in 3 fruitful events in Hormoz Island, an artist talk, a screening and a panel discussion.

“Documenting Video Art in Iran”
Lecture/Screening program,
The program was previously presented at Tassvir magazine‘s IMAGE OF THE YEAR at Iranian Artist Forum in Tehran and also at a private studio in Sanandaj in early 2013, and finally in Dec an updated version of the program arrived in Hormoz Island during 3rd EXIT, A forum for Artists Beyond Center.

On 2nd day of EXIT forum, Negar Farajiani, Miakil Rahmani and Amirali Ghasemi joined Ahmad Kargaran and Mohammad Banouj and various artists from all around Iran to discuss independent art projects and initiatives in the country and possibilities of collaboration and sharing ideas and experiences.

 

My calm Town by Amirali Mohebbinejad


Amirali Mohebbinejad’s My Calm Town is a an experimental film realized in 2008.
It addresses a global issue, how the media can project certain images, distorting them to cast shadows of conflict, terror and the threat of war. Incidents which are subject to happen anywhere in world, whenever tensions are needed to arise. The moving images are appropriated from high definition footages from residential villas in an unknown city suburbs in Latin America,  shot by a cameraman which was sent there by the commission of an Iranian mega construction company. The brief was to shoot beautiful images which later can be shown to the engineers whom are being sent by the company, encouraging them to live and work in bilateral projects overseas. Mohebbinejad created a contradictory soundscape for these footages, while giving them a 8mm old movie look. Static and peaceful frames possibly shot from a tripod where actually not much happening in them.
He writes:

[this is about] Magnifying the contrast between real events and the deceiving, beautified and distorted output of reality, given by the media, by proposing contrast between sound and image.
This is about reproducing the reality and representing it as an original.
This is about not having trust on media.
This is to question the “Truth”.

Check more on Amirali Mohebbinejad here : ilarima.com/

Momentgraphy at parkingallery projects

Installation view Parkingallery projects

Momentgraphy A project by Yaxer Brad, poster designed by Amirali Ghasemi

Momentgraphy, a collective photography curated by Yaxer Brad was on view on parkingallery projects from Monday 12th to 24th March 2012. It brought together 137 individual who responded to Brad’s call to capture one moment all at the same time, wherever they are located on the face of the earth and exactly on Saturday, April 16th -2011 sharp at 4:00 pm GMT.

Installation view Parkingallery projects

He writes:

Momentgraphy  is born on Sunday [ 16/4/2011], at 04.00pm GMT, with 137 participated from all over the world. Wherever they were, whatever they were doing.
The idea is based on curiosity, life style and social activities…
Here we are going to exhibit various places, views, activities,at the same moment in different places…!

 

Friday Feb. 25th 2011 in Galleries Across Tehran

The Doll, Group Exhibition Poster designed by Studio Kargah
The Doll, Group Exhibition Poster designed by Studio Kargah

Shirin Art Gallery hosts Group Exhibition ” The Doll” curated by Behnam Kamrani from Feb. 25th, 2011 From 16-20, the show will be on view through March 9th, 2011 and the visiting hours is 11-20 except Mondays. The show includes works by a long list of names from the stars to upcoming artists, so let’s wait and see what it has to reveal for Tehranis’ Gallery hoppers!  For more info and the address click here.

Suddenly, Nothing Happened Poster Designed by Behrad Javanbakht

This Friday Masoumeh Bakhtiary’s latest solo show” Suddenly, Nothing happened” opens at Azad art Gallery, 4-8 PM.
It will continue till March the 2nd,2011. The address for the ones who still don’t know it by heart, is No. 5, Salmas Sq., Golha Sq ., Fatemi Sq. Tehran 14317 – Iran.

Seyfollah Samadian at Tassvir Magazine headquarters

Seyfollah Samadian is the man behind the “Image of the year” the annual magazine and the biggest visual art event of the year in town, it gathers individuals from documentary to fine art photography and from cartoon to Graphic design “Image of the year” opens this Saturday with one more delay due to some irregularities at Iranian artist forum although it was supposed to open on Friday, that’s why we include it in our Friday preview. Click for more tassvir.com we hope that soon they will finish their website and put some of the treasured archives they’ve got somewhere online! According to the Iranian artists’ forum, the festival goes on till the 13th of march. Iran Artists Forum is located at  Honar Garden, Mosavi St, Taleghani Ave., Tehran, IRAN.

IRAN & CO. Exhibition photos and Review #2

Iran&Co The Exhibition, 3 other projects are featured in our 2nd post, photos by Amirali Ghasemi, Afshin Dehkordi, Farid Jafari, and Milad Houshmandzadeh.

Your Majesty by Setareh Jabbari
Installation, 2010
Mixed Technique

Iran&co - Setareh Jabbari Your Majesty

Family Album by Setareh Masoumbeiki
Photo Installation,2010
12 Photos mounted on Plexiglas, Wooden Table

Iran&co - Setareh Masoumbeiki Family Album

Un ange qui passe by Milad Houshmandzadeh
Site-specific Sound Installation,2010
Audio Collage Piece, Cans, Water, Tapedeck, Motion Detector

Iran&co - Milad Houshmandzadeh - Un ange qui passe.

Iran&Co - Un ange qui passe by Milad Houshmandzadeh

IRAN & CO. Exhibition photos and Review #1

Iran & Co the exhibition and the archive just ended on November 2nd in La Brugeoise, a 1912 power station
an architectural masterpiece and a protected historical monument, the exhibition showcased uniquely
commissioned works by 11 emerging Iranian artists.
The exhibition catalog will be published in early 2011, as the exhibition will be traveling to London next year
Iran & Co is curated by Amirali Ghasemi

Memory of the Azadi Tower by Melika Shafahi
Slide Projection – 2010
Memory of Azadi Tower by Melika-Shafahi.jpg

The Arc by Mojtaba Amini
Installation, 2010
Wine glasses, Metal Structure and Fishing Line
Iran&Co. - The Arc by Mojtaba Amini

Saying by Behrad Javanbakht
“Every end had a beginning” –The standing flag
“What’s right is right, what’s wrong is wrong and who are you to sing along ” – The Fallen flag
Installation, 2010
Sail, Permanent Marker, Coffee, Enamel Paint, and Flag Poles

Iran&Co. - Saying(The Flags) by Behrad Javanbkaht

The Power of Christ by Farid Jafari Samarghandi
DVD Loop, 2010
Iran&Co. - The power of Christ by Farid Jafari Samarghandi

See-Saws by Golrokh Broumandi
Installation, 2010
Wood, Carpet, Mirror, Chair Canning, Wallpaper and metal
Iran&Co. Seesaws by Golrokh-Broumandi

Iran&Co. - Seesaws by Golrokh Broumandi

Photos of this exhibition review are mainly taken by Afshin Dehkordi and the rest of the credits goes to
Ehsan Behmanesh, Farid Jafari, Amirali Ghasemi and Milad Houshmandzadeh.

Our big thanks to all of them and the kind people who have made all this happen so far.
The rest of the review and images will be featured in the following posts… so stay tuned!

Updates on Parkingallery’s 12th Anniversary

Parkingallery is 12
Parkingallery is 12 years old

Dear Friends’ of Parkingallery
Parkingallery is gonna be 12 years old this month, we are working on a book and the good news is we are going to open our project space hopefully in Nov this year…It had been a real pleasure to be with you all these years and we believe we could never survive ups and downs and difficult days without your attention and support.We want to thank you for your presence and your participation in various projects we accomplished together these years.Now its the time for your kind feedbacks, notes, photo/video/sound documentations, memories, comments and even complains as we are going to include them in our book, so if you give us the pleasure to share them, it would be very appreciated.You can write them as comments or mail them to info[at]parkingallery[dot]com. Thanks in advance and looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Parkingallery Team

Safe to Light | Riyas Komu at Azad Art Gallery

Installation view at Azad art Gallery

Safe to Fight

Text and Curator: Shaheen Merali

When is it safe to fight? The probabilities of such an undertaking are of course calculated, albeit by intelligent guesses and measures guided by speculations of the fight in terms of the enemy’s strength and the forces needed to defend.
Defense and offense, the twin co-evils of all invasive desires, have been with us for millennia, making an odyssey of long drawn out atrocities- wherein heroes and patriotism are borne from the deaths and violation of others.
History, when read between wars, in the so-called peaceful eras, often suggests peace as the outcome of the fighting. I wonder if such peace can be deemed to be the result of a process of distillation, of land drenched in innocent blood, of hope drained from our future, and of the likelihood of more to come.
Komu’s work has always been a striking and constant reflection on the contemporary condition where so much remains at stake, here, after many thousands of years of fear and heartbreak as our heritage, we remain ready to move into another ‘situation’; readily abandoning our wit and knowledge and surrendering to the forces that break our bonds and our lives. Komu, like many of his contemporaries, remains perplexed by our lack of conviction to resist war and to think only in terms of defense and offense.

Continue reading Safe to Light | Riyas Komu at Azad Art Gallery