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Join us for the book launch of In Creating Objects: Farhad Ahrarnia & Hossein Valamanesh (2022) with independent curator and educator, author and editor Fereshte Moosavi in conversation with Vlad Morariu. The conversation will dive into the making and chapters of the book and explore how handcrafts for centuries have been the heart of the creative domain in societies; bringing art close to the community not only as an imaginative practice, but also as economical means and activities for social experiences.

In Creating Objects explores the notion of ‘art object’ in its materiality, and the essence of craftsmanship in the works of two contemporary Iranian – artists Farhad Ahrarnia and Hossein Valamanesh. Ahrarnia’s Khâtam-Kâri (Persian marquetry), handmade carpets, assemblages of everyday objects and used cardboard packages that are embellished by Tazhib, delve into a dual experience between modern life and traditional craftsmanship. Hossein Valamanesh’s use of materials such as branches and leaves woven and placed in an orderly manner or earth, wax and fire implemented in handcrafted objects, delineates a kind of return to the overlooked domain of nature. Moosavi’s curated approach in this publication is influenced by Jean Baudrillard’s early book, The System of Objects (1968), in which he offers a critique of the commodity in consumer society while revisiting our relationship with the matter. Furthermore, two insightful texts by curator Rose Issa and writer Haleh Anvari contribute to the contextualisation of the artists’ life and work while giving a focused study on the specific use of Farsh in their practice correspondingly.

Fereshte Moosavi, is an independent curator and educator based in London with PhD from Curatorial/Knowledge programme at Visual Cultures Department of the Goldsmiths University of London. For over seven years, (April 2011- September 2018) she has worked as the art director and curator of the MOP Foundation, a non-profit organisation based in London that provides different educational and representational programmes for Iranian artists. Moosavi is the founder and director of Curatorial in Other Words, a pedagogical and investigative project initiated in December 2015 in Tehran that aims to provide a field to study, analyse and articulate curatorial practice in a local context. In connection with this ongoing project she has curated three editions of Tehran Curatorial Symposium intertwined with research-based exhibitions.

Vlad Morariu is a researcher, lecturer, and curator who joined Middlesex University as a fractional member of staff in September 2016 and became a full-time member of staff in May 2017. Prior to this, Vlad was a Visiting Lecturer in Cultural and Historical Studies at Loughborough University (2014-2017). He was awarded his PhD in Contemporary Art History and Theory at Loughborough University in 2014, with a thesis exploring the philosophical background of art practices of institutional critique. Prior to this he studied systematic philosophy at Alexandru Ioan Cuza University and Humboldt University Berlin. Vlad’s work investigates interferences between visual cultures, philosophical discourses (the analytic philosophy of language, the institutional theory of art, post-structuralism, and critical theory), institutional analyses, exhibition histories and art and design practices. Vlad has published a range of book chapters, journal papers and art magazine articles.

This event is hosted as part of our bookshop programme.

Images: Courtesy of Fereshte Moosavi.