Crossing the Red Line: Exhibiting Iranian Art in the US

Saturday, October 21, 2017, 2 p.m.

The photo is a black and white portrait of a woman with dark hair and eyes. Her hair reaches her shoulders and is parted on the side, a portion covers her left eye. She is looking directly at the camera and smiling. She is wearing a dress that reveals her shoulders and has accessorized it with circular earrings and a necklace with a charm at the end, it appears to be a symbol or letter. Behind her one can see a portion of two abstract paintings, very much with patterns similar to her necklace. — Dr. Shiva Balaghi, Courtesy of Dr. Balaghi

Join us at City of Asylum for an afternoon with Dr. Shiva Balaghi, an independent scholar and curator based in Los Angeles. For nearly two decades, Dr. Balaghi taught cultural history at NYU and Brown University. She authored Picturing Iran: Art Society and Revolution and writes regularly for museums and art publications. Most recently she has contributed to the catalogue for Farhad Moshiri: Go West, the first museum solo for one of Iran’s most prominent artists.

In conjunction with our Go West exhibition, Balaghi will discuss Moshiri’s artwork and extend her discussion into what it means to exhibit, write about, critique, and view contemporary Iranian art at museums in the United States.

This event is co-presented with City of Asylum, Pittsburgh.