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"Where Is My Vote?" exhibition photo by Francis Di Tommaso/School of Visual Arts

To see all the pieces exhibited please click on this link

Where Is My Vote? Posters for the Green Movement in Iran

August 30 – September 25, 2010
Reception: Thursday, September 16, 6-8pm

Exhibition Statement
Steven Heller on “Where Is My Vote?”
DNAinfo profiles “Where Is My Vote?”

School of Visual Arts (SVA) presents “Where Is My Vote? Posters for the Green Movement in Iran,” an exhibition of 150 political posters by graphic artists world wide created in support of the protests in Iran that followed the 2009 presidential election. The exhibition is the first public viewing of these posters in printed form and was organized by designers Anita Kunz and Woody Pirtle along with Francis Di Tommaso, director of the Visual Arts Gallery, and Steven Heller, author, design historian and co-chair of the MFA Design Department at SVA.

“Where Is My Vote?” highlights the unique role that socially responsible designers can play in rallying support for free speech, and the power of design to inspire political activism. The exhibition features posters by some of the most celebrated graphic artists working today, including R. O. Blechman, Cathie Bleck, Seymour Chwast, Ivan Chermayeff, Milton Glaser, Robert Grossman, Anita Kunz, Yossi Lemel, Jennifer Morla, István Orosz, Woody Pirtle, Andrea Rauch, Ralph Steadman, Gary Taxali, James Victore and Massimo Vignelli, among others.

Following the elections in Iran in the summer of 2009, an Iranian photographer who goes by the name of Green Bird urged graphic artists from all over the world to create posters in support the Green Movement in Iran. One of the artists he approached, Italian designer Andrea Rauch, volunteered to host all of the posters on the web site SocialDesignZine, the blog of the Association of Italian Graphic Designers, where Rauch serves as editor. Over 200 posters have been collected on the site and can be viewed here: http://sdz.aiap.it/gallerie/11538

“SocialDesignZine, which has an English language version, was visited by very many Iranians,” commented Rauch, “Friends in Iran told us that many of our posters were ‘self-printed’ and used at the demonstrations. At the end of September 2009, when the number of posters submitted numbered more than 100, SocialDesignZine was blocked in Iran.”

In the fall of 2009, Green Bird asked Kunz if she knew of a venue that would be interested in exhibiting the posters collected on SocialDesignZine. Kunz then brought the works to the attention of SVA and soon the planning for “Where Is My Vote?” began.

Visual Arts Gallery

601 West 26 Street, 15th floor

New York, NY 10001

212.592.2145
The Visual Arts Gallery is SVA’s premier exhibition facility. Located in Chelsea on the 15th floor of the landmark Starrett-Lehigh Building, it comprises four state of the art galleries and a large terrace with a commanding view of Lower Manhattan and the Hudson River. Staffed by six full-time professionals, Visual Arts Gallery offers select students the opportunity to exhibit and sell their work in the same environment as some of the country’s leading artists–a number of whom have exhibited there as well.

Since the Visual Arts Gallery moved from 137 Wooster Street in Soho to its present location in 2004, it has exhibited works by renowned SVA alumni such as Renee Cox, Inka Essenhigh, Joseph Kosuth, Robert Lazzarini, Sol Lewitt, Vera Lutter, Elizabeth Peyton, Alexis Rockman, Collier Schorr, Lorna Simpson and Sara Sze,  Works by Richard Avedon, Milton Glaser, Anish Kapoor, Stefan Sagmeister, Sebastiao Salgado have also been exhibited at the Visual Arts Gallery.

SVA students of every discipline derive great educational benefit from being able to study the work of celebrated artists, hear them speak at lectures, or even get the chance to meet them in person — all right here at the College.

The Visual Arts Gallery is open Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and is closed Sunday and federal holidays. The gallery is accessible by wheelchair.  For more information, or to purchase student’s work (the gallery takes no commission), please call 212.592.2145.

For press inquiries, please call the Office of Communication at 212.592.2010 or email proffice@sva.edu

Author, design historian and MFA Design Department Co-chair Steven Heller discusses the exhibition “Where Is My Vote? Posters for the Green Movement in Iran” on view at the Visual Arts Gallery through September 25, 2010. For more information, please visit link.sva.edu/?bmkyrn.

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High Speed / Low Speed

Source: Jadid Online

August 2010

A few years ago, passers-by in Tajrish Square in north Tehran could not fail to notice the appearance of a colossal board erected by the Municipality. The image on the board, copied from a photo taken in the early Pahlavi years, depicted the same square surrounded by the dense foliage of plane trees and lush gardens. The irony was that several huge high-rise buildings, under construction with the permission of the same Municipality, were poking their unsightly heads from behind this picturesque board. They were burying the last remnants of those trees under tons of concrete and iron.

This sums up the fate of Tehran’s trees and gardens through the course of the last century and particularly the last few decades when the process has been relentlessly accelerated. A small village seven centuries ago, Tehran was famous for its pomegranate orchards. As the village grew bigger, so did the size and number of its gardens. Even as a city in the 17th century, only a quarter of it was built up and the rest was mainly devoted to gardens.

There was a gradual expansion of the city during the following two centuries, especially from the early 19th century onwards when it was chosen as the capital by the new dynasty of the Qajars. But this growth was matched by the creation of new green spaces so that it lost none of its reputation for a verdant oasis of gardens and orchards, lying at the foot of the Alborz mountains whose streams provided it with an abundant water supply. Many extensive gardens were created during the reign of Naseroddin Shah, some of which now survive only in the names of the streets and neighbourhoods of present day Tehran.

The decline started after Tehran’s population had begun to increase more rapidly in the first decades of the twentieth century, and the gardens began to be broken up to make room for houses. The process intensified during the half century of Pahlavi rule, and soon the only surviving green areas were to be found outside Tehran in various small villages such as Vanak, Evin, Qolhak, Zargandeh etc. But soon these were not spared either, and towards the end of this period the onslaught on the surrounding villages had already begun.

There was a marked acceleration of this trend after the revolution, with the rapid increase of the population and migration from provincial cities and the countryside to the capital. Once more, beautiful trees and precious gardens fell victim to the property developers’ bulldozers, and the villages where they once used to grow are now part of the jam-packed streets of present day Tehran.

In this multimedia report, the historian and author of the book ‘A Social and Cultural History of Tehran’, Dr. Naser Takmil Homayoun, tells us the story of Tehran’s trees and gardens through the ages. We can see at the same time some of the rare photographs kept at the Golestan Palace archives, showing the gardens that once adorned Tehran and Shemiran during the Qajar period.

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High Speed / Low Speed

Source: Jadid Online

August 2010

Heerlen, an old city in the south east of the Netherlands, is perhaps best known for its multicultural arts center, Shunck which is housed in a landmark building known as the Glass Palace. The cultural centre is home to a leading international music school and major musical events throughout the year. Young musicians from all over Europe come to Heerlen every year to take part in the annual prestigious Charles Hennen Competition for piano and string instruments.

Persian classical music has a strong presence in the Glass Palace complex thanks to Hamid Motebassem, the distinguished Iranian composer and Tar and Setar instrumentalist. These Persian musical instruments are taught under his supervision at the Glass Palace, and many students travel long distances from different parts of Europe every week to take part in these classes.

The Mezrab ensemble, founded in 2005 by Motebassem and his students, has performed in major European cities to much acclaim.  And his Pardis ensemble set up at Heerlen music school, is an orchestra with musicians from different nationalities, which bring together different cultures and experiment with common musical links.

One of the latest and perhaps most ambitious projects by Hamid Motebassem is the Simorq operetta, based on one of the most beautiful stories in Ferdowsi’s great epic, Shahnameh. This is the story of the love of Zaal and Roodabeh, and Simorq is the mythical bird in the story. It has taken Hamid Motebassem, more than three years to compose Simorq, which is to be performed soon at the Glass Palace opera house.

In this multimedia report by Aisan Maghsoudi, a Persian music student at the Glass Palace we visit the Persian music classes and hear from the instructors and students at the cultural centre.

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Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)

August 17, 2010

Mohammad Reza Shajarian: "Lay down your guns."

Traditionally aired on Iranian state television and radio during the month of Ramadan, an Islamic prayer called “Rabbana,” sung by 69-year-old Mohammad Reza Shajarian, has yet to be broadcast this year, leading to speculation that Shajarian’s criticism of last year’s postelection crackdown is the reason.

For some three decades, Iranians have looked forward to hearing the prayer. For those who were fasting, “Rabbana” signaled it was time to break their fast and begin the iftar.

This year, another version of the prayer, sung by a different singer, is reportedly being aired on state media.

Several Iranian news websites, including the reformist “Parlemannews,” have reported that state television has banned the version sung by Shajarian on all its channels.

But an Iranian state television official in charge of religious programming, Parviz Farsijani, says Shajarian’s version has not been banned and that it could be aired in the coming days.

The absence of Shajarian’s “Rabbana” has been welcomed by some conservative figures and criticized by a number of music experts and singers.

Iranian singer Hossein Zaman writes on his website that Shajarian’s only crime was his defense of people’s rights.

“The only reason why this work is not being aired is that Shajarian thought about his people and spoke in their defense,” Zaman says. “Shajarian’s big sin is that he criticized, and it seems that criticizing the establishment is an unforgivable sin.”

The website Khabaronline says the decision not to air Shajarian’s “Rabbana” erases 30 years of a nation’s memory and its people’s perceptions of the “spiritual” moments of Ramadan’s iftar. According to the website, Shajarian’s “Rabbana” is an inseparable part of Ramadan.

However, conservative politician Hamid Reza Taraghi says the airing of Shajarian’s voice on state television is a demand being made by Iran’s enemies.

“The broadcast of Shajarian’s voice on state television cannot be defended since he has separated his path from the path of the nation,” Taraghi says, while adding Shajarian is close to the “sedition,” a term Iranian officials use to describe the Green Movement.

Shajarian has expressed his support for the opposition movement and criticized Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad. Following the postelection crackdown in June 2009, Shajarian called on state television to stop broadcasting his music.

“The president said people who protested against him are dirt and dust,” Shajarian said in a recent interview. “I said that my voice [belongs] to the dirt and dust, and that I wouldn’t allow state television to air my voice.”

Shajarian had reportedly only allowed “Rabbana” to be broadcast during Ramadan.

Shajarian — considered to be a master of Iranian traditional classical music — is loved not only because of his music but because of his outspokenness.

WATCH: A video of Shajarian’s Zaban-e Atash”:

In a song released last year titled “Zaban-e Atash” (“The Language of Fire”), based on a poem by the late poet Fereydoun Moshiri, Shajarian appears to condemn the violence by pro-government forces against Iranian citizens who took to the streets to protest what they considered to be Ahmadinejad’s fraudulent reelection.

“Lay down your gun,” he sings. “The gun in your hand speaks the language of fire and iron.”

– Golnaz Esfandiari

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By Parastu Sepehri

Source: Rooz Online

August 10, 2010

A short notice by the managers of Khane Cinema – which translates into the House of Cinema and is Iran’s official organization for the cinema industry – has cancelled a gathering titled “Pursuit of Job Security and Social Welfare for Cinema Professionals.” One prominent cinema director who did not wish his name mentioned out of concern for reprisal told Rooz, “Agents from the intelligence ministry have called for the cancellation of the gathering through threatening phone calls. Finally, they told us that the office of the supreme leader was against this gathering” and that if the event went on as scheduled, it would be confronted harshly.

According to a Rooz reporter from Tehran just a few hours before the start of the event, the managers of Khane Cinema sent this message to its list of cinema enthusiasts and professionals: “We wanted to gather at the Khane Cinema  to talk about the absence of job security but have no choice but to cancel the gathering. Is there no stronger sign for absence of job security than this?”

Previously, Javad Shamghadri who had produced a documentary pumping up Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and is now the cinema deputy of the ministry of culture had strongly criticized this gathering and said, “I do not know what is acquired through gathering! I am concerned that some may be after organizing a show and a display which is unethical.”

But despite this, the managers of Khane had confirmed until the final hours prior to the event that the gathering would proceed as planned. The news of the gathering began to formally circulate in late July. Amin Tarokh and Farhad Towhidi announced at a news conference the necessity of holding the gathering and asked reporters to widely circulate the news to the public so that the cinema community would participate in the August 9th event.

During the press conference, Tarokh told reporters, “The continued changes in [government appointed] management impact job security and the cinema community. This security is important to the profession and the cause of insecurity are the existence of invisible red lines and the rapid management changes which advance personal interventions.” He advanced the idea of creating an unemployment insurance fund and said, “We wrote letters to the president regarding this fund in which we requested the allocation of 40 billion Rials (about 40 million Dollars) over a phased period to launch the fund. But after written exchanges and talks with the social welfare ministry we were told that it was not possible to implement this because of the high risk of the cinema profession and the issue is relegated to Khane Cinema.”

Khane pursued the goal and sent out invitations to the gathering. Among those who signed the invitation are heavy-weight film directors, actors, actresses, cinematographers, etc and include, Bahram Beyzai, Masoud Kimiai, Jaber Ghasemali, Ebrahim Hatami-kia, Hassan Hassandoust, Fereidune Farhoudi, Rakhsan Bani-Etemad, Saeed Hajimiri, Nasser Taghvai, Mahin Navidi, Ali Alahyari, Fereidune Jeyrani, Mehnaz Afzali, Ali Mosafa, Shahriyar Asadi, Homayun Assadian, Asqar Pourhajerian, Dawood Rashidi, Kamand Amir-Soleimani, Zabiollah Rahmani, Mohammad Tahaminejad, Gholamreza Azadi, Ferial Behzad, Abdolhossein Barzid, Hassan Aghakarimi, Mohammad-Reza Moghadasian, Homayun Ershadi, Masoud KEramati, Hadi Moghadamdoost, Ahmad-Reza Darvish, Haroon Yashiyani, Jaafar Goodarzi, Majid Majidi, Kamboozia Partovi, Rahbar Ghanbari, Ali Alai, Ahmad AMini, Zahra Mostagh, Keyvan Kasirian, Mohsen Abdolfahab, Sirus Alvand, Mohammad Banki, Parvin Safari, Ebrahim Mokhari, Mahmoud Jaafari, Gowhar Kheirandish, Saeed Mostaghasi, Roya Teymoorian, Mahboobeh Bayat, Masoud Atiabi, Soroosh Sehat, Vahid Movasaian, Seyed Shahab Razavian, Abdol-Reza AKbari, Behzad Adine, Amir-Reza Motamedi, Leyla Hatami, Zhila Ipakchi, Mazyar Miri, Sohrab Mir-Sepasi, Mohammad-Reza Moini, Javad Tousi, Navid Farah-Marzi, Dawood Yusefian, Marila Zarei, Majid Mirfakhrai, Esmail Emami, Mehdi Shakiba, Nasser Onsori, Mojtaba Rai, Ahmad-Reza Garshasbi, Hamid Soheili, Hassan Moazami, Dariush Asadzadeh, Hossein Torabi, Asqwar Farhadi, Mohammad-Reza Sokoot, Hamed Komeili, Farhad Farsi, Alnaz Akrdoost, Kianooshe Ayari, Noredin Zarinkelk, Fateme Naghavi, Amin Hayati, Hamid Farahnejad, Mehdi mayami, Mohammad-Hossein Latifi, Karoon Homayunfar, Saeed Mostaghasi, Yadollah Samadi, Parsa Piroozfar, Mehdi Karampour, Farzaneh Shabani, Morteza Shayesteh, Anahid Abad, Mehdi Khadem, Ravanbakhsh Sadeghi, Sarfa Gharachedaghi, Mohsen Amir-Yusefi, Reza Nowroozi, Amir Esbati, Atila Pesiani, Mohammad Sarir, Kamran Maleki, Saman Moghadam, Masoud Meimi, Aswar Hashemi, Hamid Labkhand, Reza Kianian, Kamran Ghadakchian, Alireza Fathi, Nasser Mamdooh, Reza Mir-Karimi, Mahnaz Afshar, Mohammad Bozorgnia, Marzie Boroomand, Mohammad-Ali Sajadi, Gholam-Reza Babai Nami, Farhad Towhidi, Amir-Hossein Saharkhiz, Zinat Reza, Majid Barzegar, Masoud Rayegan, Mohammad-Mehid Asqarpour.

The cultural-art sections in the coup government launched their opposition to the gathering soon after the publication of the invitation. First, Shoraye Markzai Etehadie Tahie-Konandegan (the Central Council of Movie Producers) wrote a letter condemning the gathering and said it was in line with the goals of the enemy of the revolution. Then the ministry of culture deputy for cinema affairs announced that he had no plans to attend the event. The cinema deputy of the coup administration Javad Shamghadri told reporters, “Issues such as job security and other welfare issues are not something that someone can disagree on in principle. The reasons why the cinema deputy and Khane Cinema have not done any serious work in this regard during the last thirty one years has to be looked into. If a gathering was the solution to the problem then why was this not done earlier?”

Shamghadri associated the gathering with “America and its domestic stooges” and added, “America and its domestic stooges are striving to promote an atmosphere of unrest in the country. I think this issue has again become a tool for some individuals. Our colleagues must be vigilant. The issue of job security will not be resolved through a gathering, but as a first step, specialized groups should be formed so that solutions can be reviewed.”

The first gathering of the cinema and movie community in Iran to defend the rights of the Iranian cinema was held on June 19, 2007 which ended in a declaration signed by a large number of members of the community.

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By Hamid Ahadi

Source: The Green Voice of Freedom (GVF)

August 8, 2010

The publication of a report in Hamshahri Mah about plans by the Iranian Cultural Heritage Organization to organize a sale of the country’s historical artifacts revealed another behind-the-scenes effort by Ahmadinejad’s chief of staff, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei, to engage in activities outside the supervision of the Majlis and the State Audit Organization.

In her piece in Hamshahri Mah, reporter Sahar Bayani was astonished to find that some were planning to put Iran’s historic artifacts on sale on the Kish island. What added to the astonishment was the confirmation of the report by Omolbanin Nemat Gorgani, head of the Cultural Heritage Organization’s division on museums and cultural artifacts. Having recently failed in its bid to bring under its control the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization – under pressure from high-ranking clerics – the Cultural Heritage Organization now plans to put on sale historic artifacts, which are held in extremely poor conditions in Iran.

This government official also announced a meeting with a representative from the Kish Free Zone Organization to work out the details of the plan. Like all other plans, the plan is said to have been proposed as a means of combating illegal smuggling in artifacts.

An archeologist, who wished to remain anonymous, told Hamshahri Mah, “This is the best time to organize such a sale, because the Archeological Research Center has suddenly and without prior plans been moved away from Tehran, and many archeologists and researchers at the center are considering retirement. No one is left now to protest the decision.”

This archeologist adds, “The Cultural Heritage Organization has recently posted many new and unscientific decisions to its performance chart. This organization not only has failed to support Iran’s cultural heritage, but is actually performing the opposite of its prescribed duties.”

Another archeologist, Dr. Hekmatollah Mollasalehi says, “This is an extremely dangerous plan. I think it is better to use the term catastrophe to describe it.”

This archeologist laments, “When an ineffective leadership, which has no understanding of Iran’s culture and heritage, takes charge of the organization, what do we except other than today’s irreversible catastrophes?”

According to experts, the Constitution makes illegal any sale any unauthorized excavation or purchase or sale of historic artifacts. There is no indication that lawmakers in the Majlis have passed a bill authorizing the government’s plan. The existing customs law forbids the transfer of such artifacts outside Iran.

Meanwhile, other questions remain unanswered: Why has the Kish Free Zone, which is inappropriate according to archeologists for housing historic artifacts, been selected as the venue of this sale? Would these artifacts not be damaged by the humid weather in Kish?

By Hamid Ahadi

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Source: Agence France Presse (AFP)

August 7, 2010

Jafar Panahi is a vocal backer of Iran's opposition movement

ROME — Celebrated Iranian film-maker Jafar Panahi, who was freed on bail in May after three months in jail, is to attend the world premiere of his latest work “The Accordion”, the Venice Film festival said Friday.

“Jafar Panahi is expected in Venice for the Giornate degli Autori – Venice Days section of the 67th Venice Mostra (September1-11)”, a statement said.

“The Accordion”, a short film shot in Tehran which will be presented on September 1, recounts the adventures of two young street musicians who can no longer play after an incident.

“I’m a director who pays attention to social aspects and what’s happening around me … ‘The Accordion’ shows my feelings about what’s happening and how I see reality,” he said in the statement.

On September 2 Panahi will discuss issues broached in his films with director Mazdak Taebi who is also Iranian.

Panahi, who is 50, will also hold a master class with young film-makers from the European Union.

He went on a hunger strike to protest at the conditions of his detention after his March 1 arrest and was released from Tehran’s Evin prison on May 25 after posting bail of two billion rials (around 200,000 dollars).

The nature of the charges were not detailed.

A vocal backer of Iran’s opposition movement, Panahi, was arrested at his home along with 16 other people, including his wife and daughter. Most were subsequently released.

Culture Minister Mohammad Hosseini said in April that Panahi was detained for making an “anti-regime” film about the unrest that rocked Iran after last year’s disputed re-election of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

His release came three days after the conclusion of the 63rd Cannes film festival which he had been invited to attend as part of the jury that decides the winner of the festival’s top prize, the Palme d’Or.

Panahi is known for his gritty, socially critical movies such as the “Circle,” which bagged the 2000 Venice Golden Lion award, “Crimson Gold”, and “Offside”, winner of the 2006 Silver Bear at the Berlin film festival.

In February, the authorities banned Panahi from leaving the country to attend the Berlinale.

Repeated calls for his release were made after his arrest, including at Cannes.

The Cannes film festival and the French government also condemned his jailing, while French actress Juliette Binoche wept when she heard that he was on hunger strike.

In a message read out at Cannes, Panahi denied any wrongdoing.

“I am innocent. I have not made any film against the Iranian regime,” he said.

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Jafar Panahi is a vocal backer of Iran's opposition movement

Source: Agence France Presse (AFP)

August 6, 2010

ROME — Celebrated Iranian film-maker Jafar Panahi, who was freed on bail in May after three months in jail, is to attend the world premiere of his latest work “The Accordion”, the Venice Film festival said Friday.

“Jafar Panahi is expected in Venice for the Giornate degli Autori – Venice Days section of the 67th Venice Mostra (September1-11)”, a statement said.

“The Accordion”, a short film shot in Tehran which will be presented on September 1, recounts the adventures of two young street musicians who can no longer play after an incident.

“I’m a director who pays attention to social aspects and what’s happening around me … ‘The Accordion’ shows my feelings about what’s happening and how I see reality,” he said in the statement.

On September 2 Panahi will discuss issues broached in his films with director Mazdak Taebi who is also Iranian.

Panahi, who is 50, will also hold a master class with young film-makers from the European Union.

He went on a hunger strike to protest at the conditions of his detention after his March 1 arrest and was released from Tehran’s Evin prison on May 25 after posting bail of two billion rials (around 200,000 dollars).

The nature of the charges were not detailed.

A vocal backer of Iran’s opposition movement, Panahi, was arrested at his home along with 16 other people, including his wife and daughter. Most were subsequently released.

Culture Minister Mohammad Hosseini said in April that Panahi was detained for making an “anti-regime” film about the unrest that rocked Iran after last year’s disputed re-election of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

His release came three days after the conclusion of the 63rd Cannes film festival which he had been invited to attend as part of the jury that decides the winner of the festival’s top prize, the Palme d’Or.

Panahi is known for his gritty, socially critical movies such as the “Circle,” which bagged the 2000 Venice Golden Lion award, “Crimson Gold”, and “Offside”, winner of the 2006 Silver Bear at the Berlin film festival.

In February, the authorities banned Panahi from leaving the country to attend the Berlinale.

Repeated calls for his release were made after his arrest, including at Cannes.

The Cannes film festival and the French government also condemned his jailing, while French actress Juliette Binoche wept when she heard that he was on hunger strike.

In a message read out at Cannes, Panahi denied any wrongdoing.

“I am innocent. I have not made any film against the Iranian regime,” he said.

More »

Source: Jadid Online

July 2010

High Speed / Low Speed

The Iranian-Armenian watercolorist Sumbat Der Kiureghian was born in 1913 in Iran, lived there until 1980, and then moved to the United States where he died in 1999. He is renowned within artistic circles throughout the world for his astonishingly colourful alluring aquarelles. Although in Iran Sumbat is not among the most acclaimed artists of the country, exporting his works has been forbidden as they are considered a part of Iranian national treasure. In these multi-media reports Professor Armen Der Kiureghian of UC Berkeley depicts his father’s profile and outlines Sumbat’s specific techniques in painting. Professor Der Kiureghian published a book titled ‘The Life and Art of Sumbat’ in 2009. The following article is a shortened version of the foreword to the book by the cultural anthropologist, Levon Abrahamian

Levon Abrahamian

High Speed / Low Speed

The life of any major artist is the story of the works he has created. At times the artist’s life entails subordinating everything to one’s creative work, serving with absolute and fanatical devotion to art, during which family and friends are disregarded. The case of Sumbat Der Kiureghian, however, is an example of a calm and harmonious synthesis of life and art. The process of creating seems to come to him without torturous struggle; it seems to be a natural and integral part of his full life. He even found his love and life partner through the course of creating, when making a painting of the Sourb Amenaprkitch monastery from the balcony of his future wife’s home.

The works of renowned watercolourist Sumbat Der Kiureghian were declared Iranian national treasures and in the 1990s their export from Iran was forbidden. The artist, born of Armenian descent, found it natural to use his first name as his nom d’art.

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Video Sumbat painting in Tehran suburbs, 1979 A question therewith arises concerning which category of art his work belongs to: traditional Iranian or Western, the technical and stylistic qualities of which are reflected in the watercolours masterfully painted by the artist. The question is not an incidental one since Armenians in Iran have long played the role of mediators between East and West. Indeed this was the intent of Shah Abbas in forcibly relocating the Armenians of Jugha (Julfa) to Isfahan in Persia, where he established the district of Nor Jugha (New Julfa) for them in the early 17th century. Sumbat Der Kiureghian is a direct descendant of these re-settlers.

As described elsewhere in this book, there are different opinions regarding the ‘national identity’ of Sumbat’s art. For me, of most interest is the cultural dimension of his work. Like his Nor Jugha ancestors, Sumbat undoubtedly assumed the role of a mediator, importing the Western, figurative worldview into Iranian culture. At the same time, his aquarelles are magnificent portrayals of the Iranian world (landscapes, cultural monuments, mode of life) to the Western viewer in an easily intelligible language. It must be stressed that his depictions of rural and sometimes urban life never hinted Orientalism. Sumbat was not a detached observer of Iranian culture, but its empathic participant and bearer, such that he could not be tempted by trivial exotica…

Sumbat’s affinity for ethnography is confirmed by the fact that he had excellent knowledge of the practices and technologies of the phenomena he depicted. The technique of watercolour also allowed for the convergence of the artist and the ethnographer, as it required speed and accuracy. At times, he took photographs instead of making sketches, intending to use the images to complete his work after returning home. This is analogous to the ethnographer, who takes notes in the field in order to describe his observations in detail after returning from an expedition. The best example of this practice are Sumbat’s vivid watercolours presenting scenes of Armenian rural weddings, which the artist created in the United States on the basis of his field photographs and his impeccable colour memory…

The artist’s inner multiculturalism is evident from his use of both Armenian and Farsi newspapers for his Sumbatisms. While later on Sumbat planned which newspapers he would use, at times even coordinating the content of the article with the image he wanted to create, in the early Sumbatisms, the language and content of the newspaper combined randomly with the colour patches, creating something like a hidden subconscious – as if embodying the multicultural essence of the artist.

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Source: Jadid Online

July 2010

High Speed / Low Speed

There are some people who have had such a varied and interesting life that any single part of it can be made the subject of a fascinating documentary film. The late Homayoun Sanatizadeh can undoubtedly be included in this category. He was a cultured man, a scholar, translator, entrepreneur, and one of the pioneers of modern publishing in Iran who, unlike his western counterparts, did not achieve fame and fortune in his homeland.

About thirty years ago, with the valuable assistance and cooperation of his equally enterprising wife, Shahindokht, he decided to venture into a completely different field. They started to grow roses and set up a small traditional workshop for producing rose essence in an area outside Kerman where opium poppies were grown. The project was dogged with difficulties, opposition and mishaps at every step. First, the farmers and inhabitants were strongly opposed to the idea of replacing the opium poppy with roses which they believed would be much less profitable.

The resilient couple finally overcame the opposition, and the first rose saplings were duly planted. But within a short time Homayoun was arrested and spent five years in jail accused of having founded the Franklin Publications and publishing pro-American books. Shahindokht was left managing the enterprise singlehanded – a task that she accomplished successfully through hard work and resilience. The success story continued after her husband’s release, and within a few years their small workshop turned into a large factory producing the best quality rose extract and oil, used in cosmetics and perfumeries throughout the world. Sadly, she lost her life in a car crash six years ago, but not before she saw the fruits of their endeavours.

This fascinating story is the subject of a film produced by the documentary film maker, Mojtaba Mirtahmasb. Entitled ‘The Lady of the Roses’, the film tells us the story of a dream come true – the dream of creating a vast rose garden in the dry and hot climate of Kerman, to replace poppies with roses and opium with rosewater, and to provide employment for 1500 families in a deprived area. In this multimedia report, Mr.Mirtahmasb describes various scenes of his film, and takes us to see the stunning rose fields and the process of extracting the essence of roses.