Sazmanab

Sazmanab (Persian: سازمان آب) is a curatorial project which originally started as an artist-run space and residency program in Tehran in 2008. Sazmanab supported artistic work in a wide range of media through exhibitions and events, residencies for artists and curators, workshops, talks, and other events.[1][2][3]

Sazmanab
Established2008
LocationTehran, Iran
FounderSohrab Kashani
CuratorSohrab Kashani
Websitewww.sazmanab.org

History

Sazmanab Platform for Contemporary Arts

Sazmanab was founded in 2008 by artist-curator Sohrab Kashani. From 2008 to 2014, Sazmanab was located in an apartment in north-west of Tehran, inside Sazman-e Ab street and directly across the Tehran’s Department of Water for the Sadeghiyeh district.[4] In 2009, Sazmanab expanded into a fully functioning art space where a variety of events and activities were held in collaboration with local and international artists and curators inside the apartment and also virtually using Skype and other communication tools.[5]

Sazmanab Center for Contemporary Art
Of Labour, Of Dirt, exhibition by Babak Golkar in 2014

In early 2014, Sazmanab began the relocation process to an old building on Khaghani street near Darvaze Dolat in downtown Tehran. The neighborhood was made up of wood shops, car repair shops, and warehouses. Sazmanab had its reopening and the launch of the new Ab/Anbar gallery (a gallery Kashani co-founded in the same building) in October 2014 with an exhibition by Iranian-born artist Babak Golkar.[6][7] Ab/Anbar gallery hosted—and at times co-hosted with Sazmanab—exhibitions by Iranian artists from the diaspora.[8][9] In 2016, Sazmanab held its last exhibition at its Khaghani street venue; the Tehran retrospective of Harun Farocki.[10]

Over the years, Sazmanab held some of its programming off-site in collaboration with other art spaces and art galleries.[11]

Sazmanab ⧚ Water Dept.

Sazmanab ⧚ Water Dept. was located simultaneously in Kashani’s apartment in Nofel Loshato street of Tehran and at the Mattress Factory Museum in Pittsburgh.[12] As part of a collaboration, called The Other Apartment, between Kashani and Pittsburgh-based artist Jon Rubin, The Mattress Factory museum in Pittsburgh housed an exact replica of Kashani’s apartment and all of its contents built meticulously by a team of fabricators in Pittsburgh.[13] Located in both the US and Iran, Sazmanab ⧚ Water Dept. produced exhibitions, programs, and events where every object, video, and performance that happened in one space was meticulously duplicated for the other.[14]
For the run of the project, Sazmanab was called Sazmanab ⧚ Water Dept. in a nod to the two versions of the same venue.[15]

Sazmanab ⧚ Water Dept. in Kashani's apartment in Tehran and Mattress Factory Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Exhibitions and Events

Sazmanab set up more than hundred events and exhibitions at its venues. Events included talks, presentations, lectures, panels, discussions, workshops, performances, screenings, book launches, and audio/visual performances. Sazmanab often held talks and presentations at universities, museums, and institutions and took part in international panels, seminars, and forums.[16][17]

Live-stream

Sazmanab's exhibition openings and events were streamed live. Viewers were able to chat and comment online as broadcast happened.[18]

Residency Program

Shortly after Sazmanab's renovations in 2010, Sazmanab began its residency program. Sazmanab was the first open-call residency program in Tehran.[19] While some residents were housed in the Sazmanab apartment, other residents were provided with living and working space in other locations in Tehran. Sazmanab hosted more than fifty artists and curators part of its residency program.[20][21]

Library

Sazmanab's library held a variety of books, journals, and other publications related to the arts, cultural discourses, and social sciences. While there was an assortment of texts, there were specific sections dedicated to art history, monographs on artists, and exhibition catalogues featuring the work of artists from Iran, the Middle East, and other parts of the world. The library also held publications produced by Sazmanab.[22][23]

Digital Archive

The Sazmanab Digital Archive included the documentation of all Sazmanab's projects and events, archived live-stream footage of Sazmanab during its events, episodes from "Sazmanab TV", and Sazmanab's video and film archive “Sazmanab Video Library”.[24]

Sazmanab Video Library

Sazmanab Video Library (also known as: Lost in Teh(e)ran and Tehran Video Forum) was a database of Iranian video work and film formed by Sazmanab in 2011 and made public in 2012. Sazmanab Video Library was an innovative platform for artists working with video and film. The mission of Sazmanab Video Library was to collect and catalogue a large variety of different works that were made available for screenings, exhibitions, and acquisitions. The database was a resource for artists, educational institutions, museums, galleries, and cultural centers.[25]

Sazmanab TV

Sazmanab TV was launched in 2011. Sazmanab TV featured exhibitions at Sazmanab and other art spaces and galleries in Tehran, visited artist studios, and made interviews with artists in Tehran part of its program.[26]

References
  1. "About Sazmanab". sazmanab.org. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  2. Daria Kirsanova (9 January 2013). "Paradox of Tehran". Art Fridge. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  3. Doreen Mende (12 January 2014). "A Postcard from Tehran". Manifesta Journal. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  4. Hamed Aleaziz (7 July 2010). "Cooking Up a Dialogue". PBS. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
  5. Isa Freeling (23 March 2015). "Wormhole in a Cargo Container". Huffington Post. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  6. Michelle Moghtadar (10 November 2014). "Iranians scream into pots at new contemporary art center". Reuters. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  7. Sarah Cascone (13 November 2014). "Vent Your Frustration: Scream into Pots at Iran Art Gallery". artnet News. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  8. Laurence Cornet (17 February 2015). "Iran Special Edition : Reza Aramesh at Sazmanab". L’Oeil de la Photographie. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  9. ""Portals" Public Art Project Seeks to Connect Havana and DC". BLOUIN ARTINFO. 19 March 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  10. "Harun Farocki 2011-2015". harunfarocki.de. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  11. Sara Raza (22 January 2016). "The Social Studio". Guggenheim Blogs. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  12. "The Other Apartment". theotherapartment.com. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  13. "The Other Apartment". mattress.org. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  14. Golnar Yarmohammad Touski (26 March 2020). "Two Artists Attempt to Collaborate Across Continents, Travel Bans and All". Hyperallergic. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  15. Gabriella Angeleti (5 November 2019). "Experimental art space in Tehran has been recreated in Pittsburgh". The Art Newspaper. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  16. "Alternative Art Spaces and Practices in Iran". 4 April 2016. Archived from the original on 10 June 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  17. "Run an Art Space in Tehran". machineproject.com. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  18. Sandra Skurvida (29 January 2013). "Who, by whom, and for whom: Presentation of contemporary art in Iran and representations of the art of Iran elsewhere". Interventions Journal. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  19. Moeini, Seyed Hossein Iradj; Arefian, Mehran; Kashani, Bahador; Abbasi, Golnar (27 November 2017). Urban Culture in Tehran: Urban Processes in Unofficial Cultural Spaces. Springer. ISBN 9783319655000. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  20. "ResArtis Speakers". resartis.org. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  21. "Thomas Jeppe". ka-af.org. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  22. "Roaming Journal". dutchartinstitute.eu. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  23. Peggy Roalf (24 June 2015). "Photobook Tehran at ICP Library". Dart: Design Arts Daily. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  24. Taus Makhacheva and Sohrab Kashani (27 April 2016). "Hero to Hero". Ibraaz. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  25. Mariska van den Berg (1 February 2017). "Unknown Tehran". Metropolis M. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  26. "Sazmanab TV". sazmanab.org. Retrieved 26 November 2021.

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