RE-DIRECTING: EAST. Conversations # 9:
Alireza Labeshka, Iran

July 24, .2013 at 6 p.m., Laboratory Building CCA
The presentation are held in English.

RE-DIRECTING: EAST. Conversations # 9: Alireza Labeshka from CSW TV.

The presentation will focus on the discourse analysis of Iranian (so-called) contemporary art. It would show the study of themes, representational styles, and strategies which form the structure of the Iranian contemporary art discourse.

Determining the active fields in Iranian art scene today and characterising their economic, cultural, and social capitals, the presentation will address the following questions: Is it valid to call current Iranian artistic practices "contemporary"? What are the elements of contemporaneity in Iranian contemporary art? To what extent are Iranian contemporary artists’ works truly representative of their political and social circumstances of their society and how much of them consist of overused elements prepared in response to the expectations of the Western eye towards Iran?


Alireza Labeshka, born in 1986, is the director and curator of the Raf Art Gallery in Tehran, Iran, with a particular interest in the issues of globalisation and new possibilities of curating Iran’s contemporary art. Labeshka has curated exhibitions in art galleries in Iran and in other countries, e.g. the USA, Portugal, and South Korea. His theory-based curatorial work expands the understanding of the Iranian contemporary art discourse and constantly investigates the modes of hybrid identities in third-world or colonised countries like Iran. By offering residency to art professionals, curators and artists, as well as by holding workshops or discussion panels at his art gallery, Labeshka develops international curatorial exhibitions for new generation audiences who are eager to see the intersection of the contemporary critical theory and art, and he has managed to introduce the Raf as an alternative space on Iran’s art scene. His publications comprise various articles, interviews and art reviews for several Iranian art magazines like Golestaneh, and for exhibition catalogues of many Iranian artists, as well as other censored and web distributed writings. In his resume, Alireza Labeshka also mentions the experience of working as an art theory instructor and artist for a number of photography exhibitions.