Overview

 

Iranian Arts Now is a project that Ziya Art Center has initiated in 2014 with the leadership of award winning artist and curator, Arash Shirinbab. The project encompasses an annual exhibition and a series of public programs about arts created by Iranians or inspired by Iran and Persian art.

 

The exhibition incorporates the outstanding works of mainly Iranian-American and Iranian artists residing in the Bay Area, California as well as international artists, discovering their creativity and unique styles in representing the theme of the exhibition each year. Very diverse variety of mediums including painting, calligraphy, wood-works, ceramics, photography, media and time-based art, and mixed-media is represented at the exhibition. The exhibition supports both traditional/ folk art and modern/ contemporary art.

 

Goals

 

Iranian community is one of the fastest growing communities in the Bay Area and yet one of the most underrepresented and underserved community. This exhibition provides an opportunity for visibility of Iranian community and represents a creative and artistic group of them; and for the greater public it provides an opportunity to get to know this community, start conversation with them, exchange thoughts, and discover their unique artistic styles.

 

There are many Iranian artists living in the Bay Area but there are very few group exhibitions happening around to showcase a wide range of artworks from these artists. Also, not many of these artists have got a chance to get to the door of professional galleries and representatives. Our exhibition is an effort to bring together a wide group of Iranian artists, from mid-career to professionals so that they can start conversation with their fellow artists and with the public.  

 

Curatorial Process

 

The curatorial process is through invitation, open call, and using existing collections:

 

Invitations: We are developing a list of local, national, and international Iranian artists who would be good candidates for the exhibition in terms of the quality and originality of their art and medium. We use this list to invite some of the artists for this exhibition.

 

If you are an artist and would want to be added to our list, please fill out the form on the right side to register your name on our list and email us your resume (max one page), biography and art statement (max one page), and up to ten samples of your work. Please pay a $10 review fee using PayPal button on this page. If you do not have PayPal, in your email please discuss how you can pay the due (check, credit card, email banking, etc). Please note that this is for getting included in our general list of artists.

 

Open Calls: We post an open call on our website, social media, and in various art platforms so that the artists who we do not know would get a chance to submit arts.

 

Art Collections: We are developing partnerships with artists and art collectors who would contribute to our exhibition with the arts which either resemble to the tonality of this exhibition or are adding to the creative representation of Iranian art.

 

If you are an art collector or have some Iranian arts that worth showing to public at our exhibition, please send us an email with a description of your art and image of it.

 

Timeline

We plan to hold the exhibition in Fall of each year. The exhibition in 2014 was called “Freedom and Enlightenment” and was held on November 2014 in partnership and with support of Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California at their gallery in downtown Oakland.

You may find more information about our 2014 exhibition below.