9 Tehran Galleries Prove Their Mettle in Dubai

Nine galleries from Tehran participated in the 11th Art Dubai, an international art fair held in mid-March in Dubai and presented works of several Iranian modern and contemporary artists.

Art Dubai is an annual event showcasing art from the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. In this year’s edition Iranian galleries had a strong presence and the their works were warmly welcomed by the visitors, Honaronline reported.

The event included two main sections -- contemporary and modern galleries -- featuring 94 galleries from 43 countries. From Tehran six galleries (O, Mohsen, Khak, Dastan’s Basement, Ag and Ab-Anbar) attended the contemporary section and three galleries (Shirin, Shahrivar and Aria) were in the modern wing.

Speaking about the fair, Simindokht Dehghani, director of Ag Gallery, said, “the quality of 2017 Dubai Art was better than the previous editions and we had higher sales as well”.

Ag presented two photo collections from two photographers. ‘Masculinity A’ series by Abbas Kowsari, and ‘Happyville’ by Mahboube Karamli.

“We have talented and well-known photographers. Unfortunately, the art of photography does not receive the attention it deserves inside the country and we have gained more successes abroad,” Dehghani said. “There are many art fairs dedicated to the medium of photo especially in Europe and America in which works of many Iranian photographers are displayed”.

Elaborating on the reason why Shahrivar Gallery attended the fair, its director, Amirhossein Zandi, said, “we wanted to introduce Iran’s veteran artists including Masoud Arabshahi and Abolghassem Saidi. Their works are unique but have not been shown at any major art fair for almost 40 years, so we decided to present their works in Dubai”.

He said only half of the pictures presented by the gallery were sold at the event. Zandi believed that it was basically a result of the fair organizers’ failure to introduce some galleries properly. “It was the first time that six galleries from Iran took part in the fair and the organizers were expected to be responsible in presenting them,” he added.

  Slowdown in Art Purchase

Shirin Gallery, which had the experience of participating in the previous editions, was also present in the fair, showcasing works of Iranian visual artist Hadi Hazavei.

“Although the paintings by Hazavei, 77, were welcomed by the art fans, overall reception was less than the past years,” Shirin Partovi Tavakolian, director of the gallery, said.

“This is because the general state of art across continents has rather changed and there is a slowdown in the purchase of artworks,” she noted.

Sculptures by Mehdi Abdolkarimi and Mojtaba Amini were shown by Mohsen Gallery in the fair.

Works of different art mediums created by Shahrzad Changalvaee, Ali Nassir and Shideh Tami were displayed by O Gallery.

Abstract paintings of Iranian-Armenian artists Sonia Balassanian and Garnic Der Hacopian were displayed by Aria Gallery.

Ab-Anbar Gallery presented paintings by five artists, Reza Aramesh, Majid Fathizadeh, Avish Khebrehzadeh, Sirak Melkonian and Raha Raissnia.

Khak Galley attended the event displaying paintings and sculptures created by Bita Fayyazi, Nargess Hashemi, Nazar Mousavinia, Hamed Rashtian and Kambiz Sabri.

And Dastan’s Basement showed a collection of artworks by 26 Iranian and foreign artists.