Original Image: From the series "Confused by the Spectacle Around Me", by Rokni Haerizadeh

“It’s useless to wait-for a breakthrough, for the revolution, the nuclear apocalypse or a social movement. To go on waiting is madness. The catastrophe is not coming, it is here. We are already situated within the collapse of a civilization. It is within this reality that we must choose sides.” – The Coming Insurrection

“The State” presents a group exhibition running from November 10th-December 3rd, 2011 at Traffic in UAE, which takes its title from the book The Coming Insurrection (2007) by “The Invisible Committee”.

The show is a continuation of The State, a socio- historical journal & forum, and a symbolic transition from the last exhibition “Social/Antisocial?”, which dealt with socialization and the current state of people and behavior.

The exhibition is a response to the causes of discontent, namely mass injustice, corruption and greed in our societies and world at large. It calls for a paradigm shift of human expression, to prevent an emerging social condition. It is not a call to arms but an attempt to get people thinking about the global transmutation that surrounds them.

The Invisible Committee is the collective pen-name for a small group of French post- Situationist intellectuals and academics, who in 2007 authored The Coming Insurrection, and in 2008 were arrested in France on charges of terrorism. The Coming Insurrection is a commentary on contemporary society and the building revolt against governmental and economic oppression. It references collapsing economies, crashing monetary systems, corrupted democracies, environmental degradation, global crises, riots, protests and above all, a moral and social decay.

People all around the world have witnessed the collapse of a system, a disintegrating modern social order. Which may just be getting worse. As Mark Twain once said, ‘History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme.’ Despite glimmers of hope for change, through the likes of Barack Obama’s 2008 political campaign, we are still in a dire state.We have recently seen the revolutionary Arab Spring, riots and looting in London, among other communal uprisings.

As Rami Farook, Emirati curator & social–historian, explains: “The works presented share the perspective of The Coming Insurrection and deal with reasons for the current social condition, illustrating examples of it, and providing remedies. Similar to the book, many of the works touch on aspects of the self, social relations, work, the economy, urbanity, the environment, and civilization, while searching for a social solution to the present. It is our duty as citizens, activists, mentors, monitors and advisors to raise a clamour to change the conditions. By being warned, the insurrection might be prevented. An uprising is one thing, a successful revolution is another.”

The Coming Insurrection includes works by Iranian artists: Rokni Haerizadeh and Hesam Rahmanian as well as; Allora & Calzadilla, Banksy, Ahmed Bouholaigah, Arnaud Brihay, Wim Delvoye, Abdulnasser Gharem, Pascal Hachem, Aman Mojadidi, Jean-Luc Moulene, Hamza Serafi, David Shrigley, Roman Signer, UBIK, Douglas White, Dan Witz, Ayman Yossri aka Daydban, and Akram Zaatari.

* The show’s opening will include an hour-long music performance by singer/songwriter Gayathri and a big-band ensemble. The performance is an homage to 1940s jazz club days and will mark the release of her single as well as limited edition LP and music video.

L to R: Samira Hodaei, Untitled from Dancing the Sharp Edge series. Shahriar Ahmadi, Lens #1, from Archaic Techniques of Alchemy series, 2011

AB Gallery Luzern/Zürich is delighted to announce that we will participate in Abu Dhabi Art 2011, the Abu Dhabi International Art Fair. After contributing to Art Dubai this year AB Gallery is pleased to announce its second exhibition at an art fair in the UAE this year. The gallery’s booth will showcase major new works from Shahriar Ahmadi (Iran), Halim Al Karim (Iraq), Sadegh Tirafkan (Iran), Samira Hodaei (Iran), Mohamed Abouelnaga (Egypt), Hassan Sharif (UAE), Hassan Meer (Oman), Leila Pazooki (Iran/Germany) and Shahram Entekhabi (Iran/Germany).

Sadegh Tirafkan works in the field of digital photography. He creates photographs of crowds of people shot from a bird’s eye perspective, connected and interwoven with the traditional technique of carpet weaving. By literally merging the textile with the photograph he creates a hybrid of traditional art craft and the medium of photography. Continue Reading

The Iranian-born British artist and photographer Reza Aramesh makes Catholic-style statues based on figures–often Muslim captives–that he finds in press photography from conflict zones.

He uses the photographs to produce highly detailed iconic figures of human suffering which will be shown for the first time in Europe in a former church in London, Oct. 13-16, 2011. The exhibition at One Marylebone will showcase a collection of seven sculptures and six photographs by Aramesh. Continue Reading

L to R: "Life of Shadows" by; Dariush Nehdaran, 2011, "Plague" by; Mehdi Farhadian, 2011

Works by 25 of the most promising Iranian contemporary artists will be on free public exhibition at the prestigious Royal College of Art in London, during London’s Frieze Week from October 10–15, 2011.

The exhibition concludes with a charity auction of the exhibited works conducted by Christie’s; directly followed by an announcement revealing the MOP CAP 2011 Winner.

This unique Prize was established in 2008 by Magic of Persia (MOP) as part of their efforts to nurture and develop Iranian cultural practitioners of the arts outside of Iran. Proceeds from the auction of Finalists’ works are dedicated to sustaining the Magic of Persia Contemporary Art Prize (MOP CAP).

MOP CAP is a global search to identify the most talented emerging Iranian artists and provide an international platform for their careers.

Selected from over 100 nominees, the finalists were chosen from a shortlist of 25 who were exhibited at Traffic, Dubai during March 2011. The winner will be selected by a revered judging panel whose members include leading figures from the Iranian and International art scenes:

• Zaha Hadid – Founding Partner, Zaha Hadid Architects
• Ramin and Rokni Haerizadeh – Artists
• Shirazeh Houshiary- Artist
• Ali Khadra (Chair) – Publisher & Editor in Chief, Canvas Magazine
• Idris Khan – Artist
• Abaseh Mirvali – President, Mirvali Projects
• Mohammad Mottahedan – Art Patron
• Hans Ulrich Obtrist – Co-Director of Exhibitions and Programmes, and Director of International Projects, Serpentine Gallery, London

The MOP CAP winner will be awarded a solo exhibition at a leading gallery in London in 2012. For MOP CAP 2011, the winner’s prize has been generously sponsored by Mr Farbod Dowlatshahi.

• The finalists include:
• Niyaz Azadikhah
• Shahrzad Changalvaee
• Mehdi Farhadian
• Arash Fayez
• Babak Golkar
• Dariush Nehdaran
• Hesam Rahmanian
• Shirin Sabahi

The Magic of Persia Contemporary Art Prize (MOP CAP) is a global search for the next generation of contemporary Iranian artists; the majority of whom have had very limited exposure to the international art scene. The central goal of the prize is to provide an opportunity for gifted artists to gain international exposure, and through doing this, make a notable contribution to the long-term advancement of Iranian art and culture worldwide.

The first of its kind, MOP CAP aims to identify the most talented contemporary Iranian artists in the categories of Painting, Sculpture, Photography and New Media.

The prize is open to Iranian artists living and working both inside and outside of Iran; and in order to be considered, applicants must be nominated. The nomination panel is comprised of carefully selected gallerists, curators, artists, and critics who are familiar with the Iranian art scene. It is the role of these experts to nominate up to two artists that they feel merit the award.

Nominees who meet the entry criteria are required to submit images of their work , as well as a biography and artist’s statement. These are then viewed online by the MOP CAP judging panel, who select a shortlist of 25 artists. The shortlisted artists’ works are exhibited at a space in Dubai the following March, where the judging panel meet to establish 5 – 10 Finalists. This coincides with Art Dubai, and once the Finalists are announced, the exhibition is opened to the public. The works of the Finalists are subsequently exhibited in London at the Royal College of Art (RCA) in October 2011 to coincide with the Frieze Art Fair. Here, the judges reconvene to deliberate on the Prize Winner. On the final night of the exhibition, an auction of all of the Finalists’ works is conducted by Christie’s, with the proceeds dedicated to sustaining the Magic of Persia Contemporary Art Prize.

Following the auction, the Prize Winner is announced and awarded a solo-exhibition in an exhibition space at a leading gallery in London.

KTFO (2010), By: Hessam Rahmanian, acrylic on paper via Traffic

Opening this fall on September 21st (at The Third Line) and running through October 20th, 2011 several Iranian artists represented by The Third Line and Traffic will be exhibiting at the two spaces. The show attempts to question and discuss the state of the contemporary environment through artistic representations depicting social behavior, ecology, and psychology. Continue Reading

Enigma Rings, LUZ by Houman

The LUZ fine jewelry collection is a piece of wearable art that you can conveniently display and enjoy on your finger.

Custom-made for the individual, the unisex line is boldly making its mark. At a glance, the intense level of intricacy and an ergonomically designed four-sided ring is a sure give-away of a LUZ piece. Continue Reading