Aspiration, Hope, Dissent: The Festival of Arts, Shiraz-Persepolis as a Temporary Autonomous Zone (original) (raw)
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The Super-Modernism of the Festival of Arts, Shiraz-Persepolis
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Speculation abounds regarding the invisibility of collections hidden from the public by institutions and individuals alike. Removed from cultural circulation, it is less frequent that such works are intentionally relegated to unceasing slumber. When such collections are displayed for the public, a simultaneous opening up of potentiality, audience and creative engagement is implicated. Yet, what if the collection or the artwork no longer exists in the conventional sense of a tangible art object? What if the object was ephemeral, with all records of its existence buried under a mythological façade of epic exaggeration and unwarranted demonisation? Such was the fate of the Jašn-e Honar-e Shiraz or The Festival of Arts, Shiraz-Persepolis, a ground-breaking international festival of performing arts held annually in Iran every summer between 1967 and 1977, in and around the city of Shiraz and the ancient ruins of Persepolis. The intellectual drive behind the festival, its modus operandi, as well as its aesthetic content constitute a highly enduring, contested space despite the passage of a half a century, reflecting the Festival’s complex nature. This stands in contrast to most other concurrent pre-Islamic Revolutionary cultural initiatives, like the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (TMoCA), which have been retrospectively endorsed and validated by artists and cultural practitioners who have inherited their material and intellectual assets.
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For twelve years, The Festival of Arts Shiraz / Persepolis in Iran hosted musical, theater and dance performances mixing traditional Persian arts with contemporary avant-garde works by Western composers, including electronic music by Xenakis, Stockhausen, Cage, Tudor and Mumma. A proposed center for the arts, designed by Xenakis, unfortunately never came to fruition. A new generation of Iranian musicians was inspired by the presence of visiting artists, some studying abroad to further the country's art institutions. Iran during the final days of the Shah also presents a situation where artistic expression co-existed in an ultimately untenable balance with the political repression of Iranian citizens.
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'This practice-based research explores the notion of Iranian cultural identity as reflected in artworks exhibited in the Tehran Biennials (1958-1966) and in a particular individual practice. This research uses the five Tehran Biennales and their national and international context as a tool to reveal the development of their influence on the construction of new images of Iranian identity. The research frames these national exhibitions within the influence of Western modernism and Western critique of Orientalism. It frames its enquiry in historical and theoretical research and my studio practice as a contemporary Iranian artist. It constructs a methodology appropriate for visual analysis across the five events and for examination and comparison of individual artists and artworks. A core aim of the enquiry is gaining better understanding of the tensions between Iranian-Islamic and pre-Islamic traditions and of the changing national sentiment and the influence of Western modernism in the arts.' From 'Reviving Identity: An Investigation of Identity in Iranian Artworks in the period 1958-1966 in relation to a Contemporary Fine Art Practice', Fatemeh Takht Keshian BA (Hons), MA. AUGUST 2016 I was drawn to Dr Takht Keshian's thesis, through her practical work and her written statement when she was selected to join the Focus on Identity Project in March 2017. In this short paper, I will summarise my personal response to the content and style of the thesis. This is by no means a critical evaluation of the material, as this has already taken place and Dr Takht Keshian was awarded her PhD in September 2016. I will, however, having been invited to do so, attempt the task of responding to a historically significant narrative that is imbued with historical and political references. I will do so by referring to three components, namely Context, curatorial function and finally the practice-based element of the work. Although the research and analysis focus on the period between 1958 and 1966, during which time the Tehran Biennales took place, there are, in fact several contexts that interact and play out throughout the thesis. The first one is historical context, the second is the current context and the third is the context of living in a culture as an academic which requires adjustment and adaptation to vastly different social codes. In terms of the latter, it is this navigation of social and cultural considerations which impose a particular framework and style on the analysis. The most remarkable aspects for me as a reader, are the contrasts between the writer's detailed knowledge of the historical socio-political landscape and its relationship to the historical art production, the quintessentially academic and by design detached view of the aforesaid context and the need to function and respond to these considerations as an Iranian woman, living in the UK. In her historical analysis of the thematic content of the works, Takht Keshian writes: 'As the biennales progressed, abstract works became more popular, ranking as the most prevalent kinds of work from the third Biennial. Iranian artists' approach to abstract art suggests that they found Western modernist modes of representation as a suitable means for representing their culture. The artworks exhibited in the first Tehran Biennial show a transition in the Iranian artists' practices from the Iranian painting tradition and the Kamal al-Mulk's school to modern art. The wide variety in the types of work presented supports the idea that the Iranian artists at that time were experimenting with those different art styles: the traditional style, accepted in the Iranian society, and modern art, the dominant style in the West.
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Emerging in the context of American and European art during the 1960s, the term 'site-specific' has been employed to characterize art projects created with a specific location in mind. This departure from traditional artistic expressions within galleries and museums primarily focused on formal considerations, often divorced from the socio-political context of the site. In Iran, where site-specific art has flourished for nearly as long as in America, the concept of 'site' is deeply intertwined with history and heritage. Here, while formal aspects remain relevant, the shape and meaning of art are primarily shaped by the historical significance of the site. By primarily examining the work of Tehran-based artist Pooya Aryanpour, this article explores how Iranian site-specific artists have expanded the boundaries of art by establishing a dialogue between art objects and the rich history and cultural significance of specific sites. This practice has enabled Iranian artists to transcend the constraints of governmental institutions. Above all, site specificity empowers Iranian artists to facilitate intimate dialogues between art objects, history, heritage, and the people for whom heritage and cultural identity matter, further enriching the connection between art and history.
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