Lecture | Parviz Tanavoli: A Symbol of Resistance

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Join us for an in-depth conversation with two internationally renowned scholars and curators in conjunction with Parviz Tanavoli: Poets, Locks, Cages.

Dr. Fereshteh Daftari (formerly of MoMA, New York) and Dr. Venetia Porter (Honorary Research Fellow, British Museum) lead us deeper into the world of Parviz Tanavoli. Amidst the enormous political and cultural shifts of his lifetime, Tanavoli’s dedication and focus have distinguished him as one of the most significant artists to emerge from Iran. He is a man of two homes—Canada and Iran—and in a sense of two worlds: the intricate past of his birthplace; and the complicated struggles, both artistic and social, that characterize the contemporary condition. His enduring engagement with these dualities lends his sculptural practice a sense of resistance and persistence. The conversation will be moderated by Guest Curator Pantea Haghighi. Please join us immediately following the talk for tea and conversation in our Rooftop Pavilion.

Guests are encouraged to visit the exhibition Parviz Tanavoli: Poets, Locks, Cages before or after the talk.

This program is in conjunction with the exhibition Parviz Tanavoli: Poets, Locks, Cages. Parviz Tanavoli: Poets, Locks, Cages is the first major Canadian exhibition of works by the Iranian-born, Vancouver-based artist Parviz Tanavoli. Internationally celebrated, Tanavoli has lived in Vancouver for over thirty years while also maintaining a studio in Iran.

The exhibition brings together over 100 major works—representing his six decade career—and spans the full breadth of his practice from sculpture and painting to printmaking and mixed-media assemblages. Tanavoli is among the foremost contemporary Iranian artists. He belongs to the Saqqakhana School, which emerged in the early 1960s in Iran, and has been influenced heavily by his country’s history, culture and traditions.

EVENT DETAILS

WHEN: July 8, 2 PM | Doors Open at 1:30 PM
WHERE: 4East | Vancouver Art Gallery

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Free for Members or with Gallery Admission

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About the Speakers

Venetia Porter is Honorary Research Fellow at the British Museum, formerly Senior Curator for Islamic and Contemporary Middle East art and lead curator for the Albukhary Foundation Gallery of the Islamic World. She studied Arabic and Persian and Islamic Art at the University of Oxford, and her PhD from the University of Durham is on the history and architecture of Medieval Yemen. Her research and publications range from Yemeni history through Arabic inscriptions and amulets to contemporary art. Her exhibitions at the British Museum include Word into Art: Artists of the Modern Middle East (2006, Dubai 2008), Hajj: journey to the heart of Islam (2012), Reflections: contemporary art of the Middle East and North Africa (2021), and Artists making books: poetry to politics (2022–23).

Curator and scholar Fereshteh Daftari received her Ph.D. in Art History from Columbia University (1988). During her tenure at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (1988–2009), she curated a number of international exhibitions including Without Boundary: Seventeen Ways of Looking (2006). As an independent curator and scholar she has continued writing and curating international exhibitions of Middle Eastern art, with a focus on the modern and contemporary art of Iran. Her curatorial work in the field of Iranian modernism includes Between Word and Image at New York University’s Grey Art Gallery in 2002, and Iran Modern at the Asia Society Museum in New York in 2013. Action Now, the first exhibition of contemporary Iranian performance art, was held in Paris (2012); Safar/Voyage: Contemporary Works by Arab, Iranian, and Turkish Artists at the University of British Columbia’s Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver (2013); and Rebel, Jester, Mystic, Poet: Contemporary Persians at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto (2017). Daftari has published widely and her most recent book is titled Persia Reframed: Iranian Visions of Modern and Contemporary Art (London: I.B. Tauris/Bloomsbury, 2019). Her most recent activity consists of a number of exhibitions she curated for Mohammed Afkhami’s virtual museum (2022–23).

Pantea Haghighi is an independent curator based in Vancouver, BC. Achieving a degree in Art History at the University of British Columbia, Haghighi undertook interdisciplinary graduate-level research at her alma mater, focusing on modernism and architecture. Her expertise in contemporary art has supported her contribution to community development in Canadian institutions. Haghighi utilizes her experience collaborating with individuals from various cultural backgrounds to bring communities together, creating spaces that encourage discussion and the exchange of ideas. Haghighi’s curatorial projects include. Gohar Dashti: Dissonance (West Vancouver Art Museum, 2020); Looking At Persepolis: The Camera in Iran, 1850-1930 (The Polygon Gallery, 2018), Modernism in Iran (Griffin Art Projects, 2018); where/between (Equinox Gallery; Southern Alberta Art Gallery, 2016); Mirrored Explosions (West Vancouver Museum, 2016); Unsent Dispatches from the Iranian Revolution, 1978-1979 (Presentation House Gallery, North Vancouver; Kenderdine Gallery, University of Saskatchewan and Windsor Art Gallery, Ontario, 2005).