Art Reports on Thanksgiving!

There are many things to write about, but my schoolwork has got most of my time; I hope to get them done by next week and get back to a normal pace in my life. The Egungun: Diaspora Recycling, An Art Exposition of Transformation & Border Crossings exhibition is going well; the labels are almost done and the posters were printed and distributed in all libraries in the University of Texas at Austin. The installation will be on December 2nd and the opening will be on December 5th. I hope to write more about the exhibition. I will put the exhibition’s poster up here on my next post: It is an enigmatic poster and I like you to see it.

In case you are wondering what else I am working on: I am thinking a lot about the notion of Avant-garde lately. I am working on a paper about surrealist magazines in 40’s in New York and the issue of Avant-garde comes up a lot. I will explain more later; Avant-garde is interesting enough to keep me wondering for most part of this semester. Of course, looking at Avant-garde in Cinema (what I did a lot in my undergrad years) compare to Avant-garde in Fine Arts is different in many ways but at the same time it has significant similarities, which is hard to dismiss.

Any way it is that time of year again, so: Happy Thanksgiving!

A Colorful Day, Hearst Castle, San Simeon CA, Fall 2008

Particles of Dust

I thought I saw you in my dream:
I dreamt of dreaming about you.

It was all in my vacant imagination,
An empty pot of dreams of dreams,
Like particles of dust on an old feather duster !

Both dust and feather duster are there,
In the Britannica Encyclopedia,
Everything is there in that encyclopedia, but my dreams!

My dreams are particles of dust on an old feather duster
They fly away every time there is motion in the air of my mind
Every time you come closer!

More on DAM

DAM; Denver Art Museum:

It has been two weeks since my trip to Denver. The core of this trip was my visit to the African Art gallery in Denver Art Museum.*

The inspiration behind this trip was an exhibition we are putting together at the end of this semester, for a course taught by Professor Moyo Okediji, called Museums and African Art: Case of Egungun Masquerade.** Since the exhibition covers both contemporary and historic art pieces, I decided to visit the Denver Art Museum, which not only has one of the richest galleries of African Art (historic) but also it covers a wide range of contemporary art by African and African American artists.

Before coming to UT at Austin, Moyo Okediji was a professor of visual arts at the University of Colorado at Denver and assistant curator of African, African American, and Oceanic arts at the Denver Art Museum. In his class we explore different accounts of the Western approaches towards the study of African Art and the display of African art in museums. The great part of the problem in the study of African Art is embedded in the underlying arrogance as well as ignorance of Western historians, art historians and anthropologists towards cultures unknown to them.***

The exhibition is called Egungun: Diaspora Recycling, An Art Exposition of Transformation & Border Crossings. The exhibition will be on view in the Fine Arts Library at University of Texas at Austin. I will post more information about this exhibition as soon as the formal invitation is out.

Denver Art Museum, Hamilton Building, Daniel Libeskind,
Photo date October 2008

Untitled (Atlas), Fred Wilson, 1992, Denver Art Museum

Detail, Fred Wilson 1992 work, photo date October 2008

* General admission for the Denver Art Museum is $13 for adults,$3 for youth (6 –18) – made me feel Old –, it is free for kids under 6, and the student ticket costs $8.

** Egungun Masquerade is on of many forms of masquerade performances in Yoruba land.

*** The label of “African Art” that is presented, as a unified entity here is also an issue: unfortunately we rarely distinguish the Art of Africa by the name of its country, like Nigerian art, etc.

PS. Esha Momeni was released. Read more on For Esha.

In Denver

This is the last day of my short trip to Denver, Colorado, the Mile-High City. The weather is crispy cold and the sky is broad. I figured, I always assess the sky of different cities I visit. It gives me a feeling about the city. And I disagree with the famous Iranian phrase that says, the sky is the same everywhere you go! No it is not: Boston has an open sky, New York doesn't have any at all, and Denver has a broad one.

Although my trip was work related, I really needed it. I guess I needed another blue window. Soon I will write about the African gallery in Denver Art Museum, which was the goal of my visit. For now I just wanted to share my Autumn photo with you. Needless to say it is my favorite season, the most expressive one and I also have some narcissistic reasons to love it above the other three.

Autumn Leaves, Denver, October 2008

PS. More about Esha Momeni on BBC Persian.

For Esha; Free Esha!

For this post, I wanted to write about some new Art History lectures and some exciting exhibitions; but I was called by my Iranian destiny to report on something more important than Art, and that is Life.

Esha Momeni, was arrested 8 days ago on October 15th in Tehran; after her arrest she was transferred to the Section 209, Evin Prison. Her charges are not known. Esha, a women’s rights advocate and a volunteer for the One Million Signatures Campaign, is a graduate student in Arts and Communication Department of CSUN. She was in Iran to visit her family and to complete her field research for her Master’s degree. This post is for Esha: These are the memories of the first time we met; the memories I am anxiously looking forward to building-up on when I see her again.

We only shared a couple of glances in the morning and during the talk. At noon, for lunch break, Leva introduced me to her: She was Esha and I was Roja.

Her curly hair was tucked back from her broad forehead and formed a mass of fiery orange on her back. We walked to the nearest exit and found our way to a small lunch place in Bancroft Street.

She asked me if I studied Art back home, and the answer was yes: She studied Art as well and here she was a Communication and Arts student. I admired her camera; she looked tired. I got a salad and tea, she got a large blend of carrot and orange juice and while we talked she kept offering me to have a sip of her fruit juice and I refused! I only wished I hadn’t refused her offer. I am so devastated to think maybe if I had accepted to have a sip, somehow Esha would have been free; now I think, perhaps out of desperation, that if I had a different talk with her that day Esha was far away from the section 209 and Evin Prison. I am rebuilding our first three days, only wishing she comes back soon.

That night I was tired and I returned to the hotel early. I saw her the second day and I was too busy with my translations and she was busy with other things we didn’t talk much.

The last night of the conference, after the banquet when we shared a ride I just started to know her. It was short, her voiced was broken; earlier that night she had asked me who I have in Khavaran; I hadn’t answered; I gave a vague and cold answer. I did not know her to tell her: You see, it is not like you can walk around and say it out loud. I never talked about it, even with my closest friends; it is something they never ask and I usually don’t feel like telling. His name comes up, and his jokes and his green eyes and his pictures are everywhere in my room. But I never talk about it with strangers. Stranger, Esha wasn’t!

That night in the car she let me know with a broken voice, that she is not a stranger; she too lost someone in those dreadful years.

For Esha, San Francisco, October 2007

Free Esha Momeni!

More News on Esha Momeni's Arrest:

For Esha: A blog that posts interviews and updates about Esha's situation. (click on English)
CSUN University News Clippings
Peyvand

OMCT SOS-Torture Net Work
Middle East Times
One Million Signature Campaign

PS. I will put new links regarding Esha's situation here:

AFP: Women's rights activist arrested in Iran