Pages #3: Desire & Change

Pages #3, September 2004

Introduction:

In July 2004 we began the search in Tehran for a location in order to set up an independent international art space. It appears to us that inevitably some important characteristics of any potential location need to be carefully considered. As in any other city, various locations in Tehran carry out not only specific urban functions, they also possess a socio-political significance. Producing an independent art space would in one way or another force us to internalize issues relating to these paradigms from the very start. It would be futile to try to disavow the socio-political and urban significances of these locations however independent we like the space to be. Clearly the notion of a desirable art space remains relative.

This first step in the project “In search of a location for an international / independent art space in Tehran” is focusing on the various attributes and significations of locations that may or may not offer possibilities for the setting up of an art space. By launching the idea of an art space through various urban, political and social traits of each of its possible locations, a series of spatial positions are introduced that already provide a space or the means for generating art projects.

Contents:

In Search of a Location for an International/Independent Art Space in Tehran
Nasrin Tabatabai & Babak Afrassiabi

Stecca Degli Artigiani
Gruppo A12

Location 1 ( In Search of a Location for an International/ Independent Art Space in Tehran )
Nasrin Tabatabai & Babak Afrassiabi

Proposition for reclaiming a space
Liesbeth Bik and Jos van der Pol

Pakistan Street
Arash Mozafari