Page 41 - La Biennale di Venezia issue of World of Art Magazine

IRAN
Of Being And Singing
SAMIRA ALIKHANZADEH Commissioner: Hadi Mozafari, General Manager of Visual Arts Administration of Islamic Republic of Iran.
- HANGER - PERSPEX, Curator: Ali Bakhtiari.
IRON AND DIGITAL PRINT Exhibitors: Reza Lavassani, Samira Alikhanzadeh, Ali Meer Azimi.
ON MESH. COURTESY OF
ASSAR ART GALLERY 2 Venue: Fondaco Marcello San Marco 3415

“Of Being and Singing” is the exhibition presented by the Islamic
Republic of Iran at the 58th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale
di Venezia. “Of Being and Singing “is an exhibition commissioned
by Hadi Mozaffari commissioner of the Visual Arts Affair Office and
organized by Mehdi Afzali, CEO of Institute of Contemporary Arts
Developments, conceived by curator Ali Bakhtiari and exhibiting
works by Reza Lavassani, Samira Alikhanzadeh and Ali Meer Azimi.
The exhibition opens to the press on May 8, 2019 and to the public
on May 11, 2019 at Fondanco Marcello, a known space next to
Rialto. Based on 58th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di
Venezia, “May You Live in Interesting Times”, “of Being and Singing”
is an homage to life and to precious moments of the past, present
and future. The exhibition carries a message of peace from the
cultural and artistic scene of Iran, a message seldom relayed to the
world by contemporary media. Representing Iran are three artists
hailing from various disciplines who magnify the glory of being and
time, identity and memory, reality and dreams. Challenging cliché
notions of Iranian art as mostly composed of local elements and
motifs, these artists represent the universal aspects of Iranian art
through their artistic terminology. (excerpt)

IRAQ

Fatherland
SERWAN BARAN, SKETCH Commissioner: Fondazione Ruya.
FOR THE LAST LUNCH, Curators: Tamara Chalabi, Paolo Colombo.
2018, ACRYLIC ON PAPER, Exhibitor: Serwan Baran.
© THE ARTIST AND RUYA
FOUNDATION Venue: Ca’ del Duca Corte del Duca Sforza San Marco 305

Iraqi-Kurdish artist Serwan Baran was born in Baghdad in 1968,
and is considered part of the ‘new generation’ of Iraqi painters.
He has lived through over 40 years of war in his country and was
conscripted during conflicts in the 1980s and 1990s. During his
time as a soldier and war artist, Baran was obligated to record
the victories of the Iraqi army for government propaganda. His
work became more expressionist when he began addressing his
own military experience by deconstructing images of generals
in grotesque, figural abstractions. Baran describes this artistic
period as an attempt to silence “the nightmare inside me”.

The large-scale and site-specific works of ‘Fatherland’ invoke
the feeling of a war zone upon entering, in line with Baran’s
signature dark and atmospheric style. The exhibition features a
monumental acrylic painting, The Last Meal, depicting a bird’s-
eye view of soldiers killed during their last meal. Elements of
collage are incorporated, including objects from Iraqi military
uniforms given to the artist by families of the deceased. These
uniforms were collected from the Iran-Iraq War, the second Gulf
War and the war with ISIS. (excerpt)

WORLD of ART 41