Persia reframed : Iranian visions of modern and contemporary art /

The modern and contemporary art of Iran has often been understood, and positioned by commercial institutions, as decorative or ethnic, hence the focus on calligraphy and veiled women. While at a scholarly level it has been characterised as a comment on the socio-political context of the country, rep...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Daftari, Fereshteh (Author)
Format: Book
Language:English
Published: London ; New York : I.B. Tauris, [2019]
Subjects:
Description
Summary:The modern and contemporary art of Iran has often been understood, and positioned by commercial institutions, as decorative or ethnic, hence the focus on calligraphy and veiled women. While at a scholarly level it has been characterised as a comment on the socio-political context of the country, repressed inside Iran and, among artists in diaspora, as a focus for a complex identity discourse. Viewing Iranian art as neither a commodity, nor an illustration of theory, Fereshteh Daftari approaches the modern art of Iran as a democratic space where pluralism, a range of different styles and ideas, can thrive. This art historical exploration offers new insights into Iranian art, from the late 19th century Qajar period, via the Saqqakhaneh movement of the 1960s and into the contemporary world. In the process, the author comments on the concept of modernism in a non-Western environment. She takes both a specific and a panoramic view of Iranian art to expose new themes like the subversive appropriation of traditional art, while also tackling more perennial issues like gender. With experience as an international curator, Daftari analyses the way Iranian artists have been represented outside the country and discusses the different routes by which modern Iranian art has been introduced to a Western audience, explaining the process by which Iranian art has developed and how it navigates between the individual and the political.
Physical Description:xix, 267 pages : color illustrations ; 29 cm.
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN:9781788316620
1788316622
9781788315364
1788315367