Recalling The Future challenges assumptions about 'Iranian'art. As Iranian artists in the 1960s and 70s increasingly combined signifiers of their local, national identity with formal approaches fit for the increasing modernity of their environment, this exhibition demonstrates artwork that radically shakes up the basic conception of the country’s modern canon.
The artists on display reject notions of 'Iranian-ness' as a fixed, timeless entity, and investigate the social and historical construction of identity, as well as their contribution to problematic political situations.
The work in Recalling The Future calls for a complete rethinking of modern Iranian art history, and its significance alongside the dramatic social upheavals of the last century experienced by the country.
Working across a variety of media including painting; sculpture; photography; video performance and installation pieces the artists draw attention to the building sites of Iranian national identity, with a focus on the devices and techniques through which seemingly 'traditional' narratives are reproduced and maintained in the present.