TEHRAN- The "Read the Headlines Again" exhibition, currently on display at the Iranian Artists Forum (IAF) in Tehran, is an art project that aims to shed light on the ongoing genocide in Gaza through the language of art.

In an interview with Tehran Times on Tuesday, Zeinab Zandpour, one of the exhibition's organizers, shared the story behind the project. She explained that the exhibition was conceived after witnessing the devastating events that took place in Gaza since October 7 and the stark contrast between light and darkness.

“In an effort to bring attention to the ongoing genocide in Gaza, a group of art students, including myself, Afsaneh Qorbani, and other graduates, have come together under the title "Palestine and My Role" to work on various ideas in different fields and to create an art exhibition”, she said and added: “The group included photographers, graphic designers, and writers from the literary field.”

The exhibition aims to bring attention to the human crisis in Gaza through the language of art, using photomontage techniques to combine documentary photographs of the Gaza war with popular magazines around the world that have similar images to magazine covers. Without changing the magazine titles, they replaced them with their redesigned covers, a process that took about seven months to complete.

The redesigned magazines aimed to be more impactful by having the most similar form and content to the original magazine covers.

“We left the magazine titles untouched, replacing them with our redesigned covers, a process that took about seven months to complete.”

“We decided to use photography as a medium to depict this tragedy and bring attention to the human crisis that has been overshadowed by mainstream media,” she added. 

These redesigned magazines guide the reader through a sea of diverse headlines to focus on a single neglected topic: ‘Human dignity’ in a time when humanity has been under attack more than ever before.

The exhibition features a total of 27 redesigned magazine covers in different shapes and sizes. In the final statement of the exhibition, it says: "There is no title that can compete with the reality of this tragedy, and its impact will overshadow all other topics. So, ‘Read the Headlines Again’."

One of the most striking aspects of this exhibition is how it uses the language of art to bring attention to a critical issue. In today's world, where people are bombarded with an abundance of visual content, it is easy to get lost in the noise. The redesigned magazines serve as a powerful reminder of the importance of human dignity and the need to pay attention to issues that affect our fellow human beings.

The exhibition has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from those who have seen it, despite some criticism. Zandpour said: "We are grateful for the overwhelmingly positive feedback from those who have seen the exhibition... Despite some criticism, we have met with diverse groups and opinions from society, but they were all united on this issue. The feedback has been very positive so far."

However, not everyone has liked the work and some have criticized it. Zandpour said: "Of course, there were some who did not like the work and criticized it, but that's okay. We don't have an idea for internal newspapers yet, but maybe we can think about it now that you've asked."

The "Read the Headlines Again" exhibition highlights the importance of using art to depict war and its human crisis in an era where human eyes are saturated with visual content. As its statement reads: "Two key elements, the front-page title and image, play a determinative role in capturing the audience's attention towards the world of magazine content. Depending on their effectiveness, these two elements are directly reflected in sales and the audience's acceptance."

The exhibition's goal is to rise above the clichés of the press and deeply resonate with the audience. By using photomontage techniques, the exhibition creates a powerful visual representation of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, shedding light on the human crisis overlooked by media that is preoccupied with unrelated subjects.

"Read the Headlines Again" exhibition will run until Friday.

SAB/