Dejan Kaludjerovic’s first solo exhibition in Iran ‘Conversations – Iran’ at Sazmanab, is a site-specific installation sandbox, from his series ‘Conversations: Hula-hoops, Elastics, Marbles and Sand’.
Kaludjerovic is the winner of the 2015 Sazmanab Contemporary Art Center Residency in Iran.
Sazmanab is an independent not-for-profit art space in Tehran founded in 2008 by Sohrab Kashani, and supports artistic work in a wide range of media through exhibitions and events, residencies for artists and curators, educational workshops, talks, and publications.
The ‘Conversations’ series is based on research and interviews with children in different countries from 2013 to date, in Russia, Serbia, Azerbaijan and Iran, Honaronline reported.
The children, aged 7-10 years come from different ethnic, social and cultural backgrounds, Kaludjerovic said. Each installation is made in relation to the local site and based on “specific and often universal children’s games, which are accompanied by sound from 6-7 speakers.”
Born in Belgrade, the Serbian capital, he has a master’s degree in visual arts from the Academy of Fine Arts, Belgrade.
Kaludjerovic uses children’s narratives “as a litmus test in order to detect the ways in which each society in question generates cultural differences, identifies the other, and establishes a system of values based upon their belief structures.”
The children’s answers point out the ideological, cultural and social matrixes imposed on them. “Through the world of children, a period when they are not yet individualized, I aim to observe the world of adults and the models of social construction and codification that predetermines identity for children,” he says.
On the Iran exhibit in his series, Kaludjerovic said: “I chose a specific visual and volume elements for each country. For Iran, subconsciously I chose a sandbox.” He describes sand as “the symbol for freedom,” and said this feature is reflected in the attitude of Iranians.
“All over the world, sandboxes are available for children in parks and different recreation places, but Iranian children can only play with sand at the seashore. So sand has a unique and different meaning for them.” The sandbox also implies the geometric architecture used in ancient buildings of Iran, symbolizing the country’s long history, he added. The exhibition is underway through August 13 at the gallery in Haft-e Tir Square.
Kaludjerovic’s work is part of many collections in Vienna and Berlin. He has held exhibitions solo and group, in Europe, the US, Australia and Asia.
