Iran as the Promised land of Loss

  The Arario Gallery is now having one of the most exciting exhibition in New York, one of the reasons of this fact is the controversial subject of this exhibition: Iran nowdays and its social complexity. In the context of highly diplomatic tensed relation between United States' governement and theocratic Iran, this exhibition has also a political interest: prove the lively artistic creation in Iran and Teheran despise the censorship that rules all Iranians' daily life.

  Iran is now at the crossing point between modernity and traditions that strangle youth, politic opponents and minorities. The recent Nobel Peace Price nomination of Shirin Ebadi proves to us the struggle of cultivated and progressist Iranians to change a society that moves in two separate ways: poor illeterate farmers manipulated by political religious extremism and modern elite in the cities that want to follow the Western world.

  Furthermore, the photographs of this exhibition reveal a country traumatised by years of endless conflicts with Irak, the consequences the Shah's politics and the Revolution of 1979 that saw theocratic regime put in place. On some pictures we see widows dressed and hidden like dark ghosts weaping on the lost beloved family members dead during these wars. The contrasts between their attitude and the traces of weapons, army material left like skeletons, ruins of a disapeared civilization, strikes us. Here and there artists denounce the political situation of their country and ask us to think of this situation, and give them the strengh to criticize the Iranian regime. For instance, a fountain springs blood in one of the main rooms, this fountain is surrounded by gloomy greenish neon lights and empty plastic citerns: this cynical point of view mirrors the atrocity of wars and oppression, but also an inhuman government that is ready to send its children to get slaughtered. Haunting images of veiled women in a special police bound underlines this strange situation of genders in Iran. Following occidental evolutions, women were able in Iran to access high level education but are yet in a society that does not treat them as equals with men.

 This exhibition is of an outstanding interest, but also have defects in its organization: we would have appreciated to have a presentation of each work with its references and a brief note to be able to put each pieces of art in its context. For a public not necessarly informed about Iranian issues, this is a main regret. Above all, the selection of the pieces of work is not always of a relevant interest, and the exhibition lacks here and there of coherence. Nevertheless, here is probably not the Curator's intentions: his purpose was probably to present all the different aspects in art creation in Iran, having the commun point to picture Iran as the Promised land of Loss.