By MASA ZOKAEI
[NEW JERSEY]
Gender, Art and Society Exhibit
A five-month project featuring 24 women artists from 11 Middle Eastern nations is under way in Central New Jersey.
“The Fertile Crescent: Gender, Art, and Society” highlights artists from Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Kuwait, Palestine, Lebanon, Israel, Turkey, Syria, Pakistan and Nigeria. Artists include Shirin Neshat, Negar Ahkami, Zeina Barakeh, Ayana Friedman, Reza Farkhondeh, Shadi Ghadirian, and Parastou Farouhar
Organized by Judith K. Brodsky and Ferris Olin, Co-Directors of the Institute for Women and Arts at Rutgers University, Fertile Crescent events continue through mid-January.
The Fertile Crescent: Gender, Art, and Society, Now until January 13, 2013.Princeton University Art Museum, 124 Washington Road, Princeton, NJ. fertile-crescent.org
[CLEVELAND]
Iranian-born Architect’s
Hexagon at MOCA
The Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland has opened its new and very expensive doors to the public today. The 27.3 million dollar “Hexagon,” as its referred to officially became the shiniest and most recent addition to one of the highest concentrated districts of museums and cultural organizations in the United States.
The 34,000-square-foot glass structure, designed by Iranian-born and London-based
architect Farshid Moussavi, celebrated its opening with an inaugural exhibition titled “Inside Out and from the Ground Up.”
The show, which opened free to the public this afternoon, features the work of 16 international artists versed in sculpture, painting and sound installations. Louise Bourgeois, Gordon Matta-Clark, David Altmejd, and Walead Beshty are a few of the artists.
[TAIWAN]
Asia-Pacific Arts Fest
The 2012 Asia-Pacific Traditional Arts Festival, highlighting cultures and arts of Central and West Asia, took place this week at the National Center for Traditional Arts in Yilan County.
India’s Tanusree Shankar Dance Company, Iranian music ensemble Saba, Kazakhstan’s ethno-folk ensemble Turan, the Bursa Kilic-Kalkan Folk Music & Dance group of Turkey, and the Uzbekistan Folk Dance & Music Ensemble, along with eight local performing arts groups, provided 41 performances during the nine-day event.
Now in its 11th edition, the festival has previously introduced cultures and arts from countries and regions of East, Southeast and North Asia.
In the crafts section, workshops and master classes will juxtapose artisans from Taiwan and Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkey and Uzbekistan working in calligraphy, embroidery, tapestry, woodblock printing and ebru, or paper marbling.
[VANCOUVER]
Contemporary
Art Gallery Iran Exhibit
Three new international exhibitions are set to open at the Contemporary Art Gallery. The exhibits—Class Reunion by Nairy Baghramian, The Last Few Mosquitos by Xu Zhen, and Children’s Films presented by Gareth Moore with Ulla Von Brandenburg, Keren Cytter, Geoffrey Farmer, Julia Feyrer, Harrell Fletcher, Mike Marshall, and Sylvain Sailly will continue at the gallery until November 11.
Class Reunion will mark the first solo show in North American for Iranian artist Baghramian. The exhibition includes an 18-piece sculpture made from colored cast rubber, painted metal, and colored epoxy resin. Class Reunion comments on materiality, manufacture, and display while examining social and political relationships.
The CAG is open Tuesdays to Sundays from 12 to 6 p.m. Admission to the gallery is free, with a suggested donation of $5.
[CHINA]
Traditional Music Festival
The Fourth Beijing Traditional Music Festival will run until Oct 25. The festival, which is organized by the China Conservatory of Music, will comprise concerts, seminars, and an awards ceremony.
The event will present various aspects of the preservation and development of traditional music from China and the world. Musicians from China, Egypt, India, Bangladesh, Peru, Iran, Greece and Bulgaria will perform at the opening concert, to be held on Oct 7 at the China Conservatory of Music.
For the first time, the festival will present the Taiji Award, which will be given to people and organizations with great achievements in traditional music from around the world.
Nominees include Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar, American ethnomusicologist Bruno Nettl and Chinese American writer Pai Hsien-yung.