Katayoun Vaziri (b. 1983, Iran)
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| Once Upon a Time (Detail), 2009, Mixed Media, 30 panels of 14”X 17”/ Space between panels are 1”. Fairy tale driven Characters recast intertwined stories of economic corruption, oppression and identity crisis. |
Biography
Vaziri was born in Iran in 1983 and came to U.S. in 2005 upon graduating from Tehran University. Vaziri received her MFA degree from Yale School of Art in 2009.
“Hearing people’s stories is a source of inspiration for my art practice. Doing so allows me to stay close to the personal daily lives of individuals affected by the larger political issues I explore. To this end, I have always tried to stay close to marginalized communities. For two years in Iran I volunteered to teach painting to Afghan refugee children under the Society for Protection Rights of Children.
Last summer I studied the daily lives of the women who worked in the Palestinian Women Humanitarian Organization while residing in the Burj al Barajneh refugee camp in Lebanon. Currently I go back and forth between Iran and America trying to solve the fraction that I feel in my own identity and the conflict that is splitting Middle East in Between these two opponents and their supporters.”
Artist statement
As the discussion of nationhood is challenged and deconstructed, the presence of diverse stories is being increasingly recognized in our construction of history. Alternative records of encounters open up multiple horizons and challenge the homogenizing and mono-logical narratives that have been presented as History.
This multiplicity undoes the totalizing inclination reflected in traditional historical accounts. Coming from Iran and residing in America allowed me to observe these opponent countries represent history in contradicting ways. This experience compelled me to narrate historical accounts such that non-linear connections between them subvert application of any absolute judgment on any side of actual events.
In my videos I try to portray the complexity of mobile communities such as refugees and immigrants, whose hybrid political identities challenge any kind of traditional linear nationalism. Meanwhile, in my drawings I portray fragments of my own contradictory histories. In the midst of them I paste my personal experiences of being an authentic Iranian in America and an Americanized citizen in Iran.
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| Once Upon a Time (Detail), 2009, Mixed Media, 30 panels of 14”X 17”/ Space between panels are 1”. Fairy tale driven Characters recast intertwined stories of economic corruption, oppression and identity crisis. |
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| Histories, 2008, Mixed Media, 23 panels of 14”X 17”. Space between panels is 1”. Histories depicts varied, contradictory viewpoints on conflict of Israel- Palestine. Democratization of viewpoints in the work subverts idea of absolute historical “Truth”. |
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Histories (Detail), 2008, Mixed Media, 23 panels of 14”X 17”. Space between panels is 1”. Histories depicts varied, contradictory viewpoints on conflict of Israel- Palestine. Democratization of viewpoints in the work subverts idea of absolute historical “Truth”. |
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| Extracted from Where Are We, 2008. Video single channel. 10 min.(4 stills) Description: “ Where Are We” is an experimental, anti- plot video documentary. Characters are residents of Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon. I have used A Noun Sentence, a poem by Palestinian national poet, Mahmoud Darvish, as structure. He died when I was in the camp. |
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| Extracted from English Subtitles. 2008-2009. split Video. 32 min( 4 stills) Description: It is a collaboration between artists Naomi Safran- Hon and Katayoun Vaziri. We are talking in our native languages, Farsi and Hebrew, unknown to one another. |
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| Extracted from Burj Albarajneh. Video Single Channel. 18 min.( 4 stills) Description: Burj Al Barajneh is daily life of Palestinian women working in Palestinian Women Humanitarian Organization in Burj AlBarajneh refugee camp in Lebanon. |
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| Extracted from Translation. 2007. Single channel video. 10 min.( 4 stills). Description: " Translation" is record of people of different nationalities saying something in their own language that is not translatable into English. Subtitles are improvisation of an Englsih spoken person of what they might have been said. The camera is focusing on the body parts that the speakers liked the most. |
Complete Versions of Videos
Where Are We (No Verb) from Katayoun Vaziri on Vimeo.
Englsih Subtitles from Katayoun Vaziri on Vimeo.
IN THIS ISSUE
- EDITORIAL
- Welcome
DEBATE- Iranian Art Markets
- A commentary on recent exposure of UAE graduate artists
- Documenting the new world: a review of Middle Eastern representation in the 53rd Venice Biennale
- Emerge: Ways of World Making, Zayed University
INTERVIEW
- Ali Raza
- Tom G Adriani
- Saba Qizilbash
THE PROJECT SPACE
- Katayoun Vaziri
