Persian Whispers – artists’ dream of Iran

Whispered Secrets, Murmuring Dreams

8 – 17 April 2008, Mall Galleries, London.

Artists from Iran and the Persian Diaspora are making some of today’s most intriguing visual art. Shirazeh Houshiary, Shirin Neshat, Parviz Tanavoli, Farhad Moshiri and their peers are widely represented in the world’s major collections and galleries and sell spectacularly auction. The art world has its eyes on Iran; yet emerging artists both inside and outside Iran still struggle to gain a foothold. Whispered Secrets, Murmuring Dreams, marks the inauguration of a collaboration between Candlestar (London) and the Day Art Gallery (Tehran) that will provide an important international platform for artists from Iran. As Fariba Farshad of Candlestar says: ‘We hope to play a major part in the development of emerging artistic careers and the recognition of work by Iranian artists.

‘Our intention is to ally Candlestar’s experience of running international art projects and our extensive international art world contacts and the Day Art Gallery’s extensive knowledge and experience of Iranian art and artists to get behind the headlines and explore the whispered secrets of Iranian art. Iran’s cultural heritage is both rich and complex. For our first show together we offer glimpses of that heritage through the eyes of a spectrum of contemporary artists.’

‘Whispered Secrets, Murmuring Dreams’ takes place between 8-17 April at the Mall Galleries, Carlton House Terrace, London. Exhibiting artists include Sadegh Tirafkan, Pooya Aryanpour and Shahriar Tavakoli.

‘Whispered Secrets, Murmuring Dreams’ features artists who have been making work for the three decades since the Iranian revolution. It presents the murmuring dreams and secrets that the past is whispering in the ears of each of these artists. Each of the works starts from a different place, each draws on a different interpretation of past - that is in many cases an extremely personal interpretation - each moderated by a thoroughly modern point of view.

‘Whispered Secrets, Murmuring Dreams’ brings together over forty works of painting and photography representing the wide variety of styles and genres that constitute a celebration of the unique of voices and dreamscapes made by artists working in Iran today.

‘Whispered Secrets, Murmuring Dreams’ is a co-production between Day Art Gallery in Tehran and the London based cultural consultancy, Candlestar Ltd. Ferial Salahshour, director of Day Art Gallery explains that this exhibition is: ‘One of several ambitious projects with Candlestar that will raise the standards of artistic and cultural exchange between Iran and the United Kingdom’. Fariba Farshad, Director of Candlestar, says: ‘The desire to build great art projects is at the very heart of Candlestar’s mission. This show is the latest in the Iranian series that we embarked on last year. It also is part of our wider vision for engineering cultural exchanges between Europe and the Middle East that will enable wider global access to the art from this region. There is a great deal more to come form this collaboration with the Day Art Gallery. We are, for example, currently working closely with Ferial and her team on the development of the Masques of Sherzade – an exhibition that features work drawn from three generation of Iranian women artists that will show in London in March 2009.’

For further information www.candlestar.co.uk and www.candlestargallery.com

• ‘Whispered secrets and murmuring dreams’ is a collaborative exhibition produced by Day Art Gallery, Tehran and Candlestar. http://www.dayartgallery.com/

• Candlestar Ltd. is an international cultural agency specializing in production, collaboration and commissions for individual artists, designers and major educational and cultural institutions. For more information visit www.candlestar.co.uk.