Guest curated by Taraneh Hemami
Opening Night: Jul 19, 2008
Theory of Survival, guest curated by Iranian-American artist Taraneh Hemami, is a continuation of the CrossConnections project that engages the Iranian and Iranian-American diaspora community in an intergenerational, creative dialogue about issues of cultural identity, preservation, and representation. For its incarnation at YBCA, Theory of Survival brings together a multi-generational and international group of artists of the Iranian Diaspora who have responded to a historical archive belonging to the library of the Iranian Students Association of Northern California, which was active from 1964–1982. The collection, which has been partially acquired by the Library of Congress, includes theoretical discourse, original essays, political analysis, translations, as well as posters, newspapers, and documents reflecting both Iranian as well as Bay Area history throughout these critical years. The artists that guest curator Taraneh Hemami has chosen to work with collectively investigate the archives of the past while exploring notions of devotion, salvation, victory, freedom and survival.
Artists include: Reza Aramesh, Gita Hashemi and Leila Pazooki.
Bay Area Now 5 Exhibition Sponsors:
Meridee Moore and Kevin King
Theory of Survival
What is devotion? Does strong belief and righteousness guarantee victory, survival, salvation?
What is survival? Is it to change, or to remain unchanged?
Theory of Survival is a continuation of the CrossConnections project that engages the Iranian and Iranian-American diaspora community in an intergenerational, creative dialogue about issues of cultural identity, preservation, and representation. For its incarnation at YBCA, Theory of Survival brings together a multi-generational and international group of artists of the Iranian Diaspora who have responded to a historical archive belonging to the library of the Iranian Students Association of Northern California, which was active from 1964-1982. The collection, which has been acquired by the Library of Congress, includes theoretical discourse, original essays, political analysis, translations, as well as posters, newspapers, and documents reflecting both Iranian as well as Bay Area history throughout these critical years. The artists that guest curator Taraneh Hemami has chosen to work with have collectively investigated the archives of the past while exploring notions of devotion, salvation, victory, freedom, and survival.
Taraneh Hemami is an Iranian-born Bay Area artist and community leader. Fully committed to expanding the function of art in society, she has developed collective, collaborative, and participatory projects. Hemami’s CrossConnections project engages the Iranian and Iranian-American diaspora community in an intergenerational, creative dialogue exploring issues of cultural identity, preservation, and representation. Her Hall of Reflections project has been awarded a Creative Work Fund grant, a San Francisco Arts Commission’s Cultural Equity grant, and a California Stories Fund grant through the California Council for the Humanities. Most recently, she co-curated the exhibition East of the West at Somarts Gallery, San Francisco. She holds an MFA from California College of the Arts, San Francisco.