Washington DC/Tehran, from June 22 to August 4, 2007

IAAB and 21 Iranian artists from around the world to explore Iranian identity, tradition and stereotypes.

Multi-media exhibitions in Tehran, online and at Ellipse Arts Center · Arlington, VA (Washington DC Metro Area) http://www.arlingtonarts.org/ellipseartscenter.htm

Curators: Narges Bajoghli, Nikoo Paydar, Maryam Ovissi, and Leyla Pope

CURATORS STATEMENT:

Since the 1979 Revolution, Iranians have been in a state of perpetual transition and transformation. The dramatic end of the Shah's rule, the creation of the Islamic Republic, and the eight year Iran-Iraq war, have all contributed to the creation of one of the fastest growing diasporas in recent history. Nearly 30 years later, in an era dominated by the U.S.-led 'War on Terror,' contentious notions of the 'Axis of Evil,' and heightened global anxiety over Iran's nuclear ambitions, Iranians in Iran and those outside of its borders are finding themselves in the throes of individual, local, national and global tensions -- they are expressing their experiences and views in new and compelling ways.

Despite living in an environment where self-expression is limited and government censorship is often physically palpable, it is the young people of Iran who are pushing limits and transforming the cultural fabric of their society. Concurrently, Iranians living outside Iran have been grappling with the reality of their dual (and often dueling) identities in their relatively newly-formed hyphenated communities, creating new meanings for diasporic identity and culture.

TRANSFORM/NATION offers the unique opportunity for these culturally related, but geographically separated, communities to interact with one another via simultaneous exhibits in Washington, D.C. and Tehran, Iran. Via photography, paintings, installations, and films by artists from Iran, Europe and the United States, TRANSFORM/NATION brings the individual experience to a global conversation about identity, nationalism, and Iran's place in the world.

For more information about this exhibition and IAAB's sister exhibition in Tehran, please visit www.iranianalliances.org/art.htm and http://iaabart.blogspot.com/

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