In recent years, we have witnessed a fortunate upsurge in the publication of books dedicated to the exploration of various facets of Iranian modern and contemporary art. These publications have significantly contributed to our understanding of Iranian artistic culture, illuminating its diverse manifestations and the intricate complexities that underlie them.

 

The Graduate Center for Literary Research at UCSB is pleased to host three separate events that brings together three distinguished scholars, each of whom has recently authored a work on Iranian art in the twentieth century. These authors will engage in discussions with emerging scholars who work on Iranian art, facilitating a dynamic exchange of ideas. By placing Iranian art scholarship in conversation with scholars from different institutions worldwide, these dialogues promise to offer insights and deepen our critical understanding of the multifaceted landscape of Iranian art and its position in the global scene. 

 

Hamid Keshmirshekan is an art historian, art critic and Research Associate at the School of Arts, SOAS, University of London. He was previously Associate Fellow at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and History of Art Department at Oxford University (2004-21), Associate Professor and head of History of Art department at the Advanced Research Institute of Art (ARIA), Iranian Academy of Arts (2010-17), Research Associate at the London Middle East Institute (2013-2019), and Chief Editor of the quarterly Art Tomorrow – the bilingual (English-Persian) journal on modern and contemporary art of the Middle East and its diaspora (2009-13). He received his PhD in History of Art from SOAS, University of London in 2004 and was post-doctoral fellow at KRC, Oxford University (2004-5, 2008-9, 2011-13) supported by the British Academy, AHRC and ESRC. Since 1994 he has taught art history and theory in British and Iranian universities, has organised several international conferences and events on aspects of modern and contemporary art of Iran and the MENA region, and has contributed extensively to various publications. His latest publications include The Art of Iran in the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries: Tracing the Modern and the Contemporary (2023); “Humorous Art Practices in the Contemporary Middle East: Reacting to Cultural Stereotypification,” (2024), and Contemporary Art from the Middle East: Regional Interactions with Global Art Discourses (ed.) (2015).

 

Please join us on Zoom for the second event of this series on Friday, April 12, at 9am PST. 

 

To register for this Zoom event, please use this link.