TEHRAN – A collection of artworks by Iranian artists are on display in an exhibit underway at the Campus Gallery of Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States.

Entitled “Contemporary Iranian Art and the Historical Imagination”, the exhibit is organized in conjunction with Pamela Karimi, an associate professor of history of art and architecture at Dartmouth College.

The exhibition sheds light on how contemporary Iranian artists engage with Iran’s ancient heritage, history and politics, the college wrote in its statement for the exhibit.

Despite having a tradition deeply rooted in complex historical narratives and aesthetic sensibilities, all the participating artists reveal their own unique interpretations.

Displayed in conjunction with historic manuscripts and images on loan from the private collection of Elmar Seibel and Ars Libri Ltd. in Boston, the exhibition invites the visitors to appreciate the extent to which contemporary Iranian artists build on their heritage to craft a unique artistic idiom.

Through this exhibition, participating students have had the opportunity to hone their skills in all aspects of curation and exhibition design, from handling precious artworks to installing vinyl lettering and from label writing to selecting color themes for the gallery walls. 

Additionally, they are required to deliver short presentations on the thematic sections of the exhibition, including Persian poet Ferdowsi’s epic masterpiece Shahnameh, the medieval manuscripts, Qajar dynasty, the 1953 Coup and the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Artemis Akchoti, Samira Alikhanzadeh, Amir-Hossein Bayani, Gohar Dashti, Rauf Dashti, Shadi Ghadirian, Amir-Ali Qasemi, Ghazaleh Hedayat, Rana Javadi, Pantea Karimi, Mehran Mohajer, Hamed Nuri, Siavash Naqshbandi and Mojtaba Tabatabai are among the artists whose works are on view.
 
The exhibit which opened on February 20 will be running until April 1.

Photo: A photo from Gohar Dashti’s series “Land/s”.

RM/MMS/YAW