Iran is a country with a pretty negative image in the U.S. press these days, so I was very intrigued when an Iranian-American artist friend recently sent me a link to an environmental art festival currently taking place there. In fact, the summer 2008 Iranian Environmental Art Festival, focusing on the water crisis and water pollution, is the 17th such festival.
Environmental art is a very popular form in Iran, my friend told me, not only because of its inherent interest, but also because it is less subject to the government censorship that plagues art that is permanent or displayed in more populated places. According to festival director Ahmad Nadalian, “In the past two years there has been a great demand for environmental art in Iran.. . .I have been pleased to organize different events and respond to this essential need of our society. Environmental art is the art of the future. We can learn how to behave with nature. I wish in the future we could have one environmental art event per day.”
Nadalian is not far from getting his wish. Tree of Life, the 16th Festival, took place in May of this year and included environmental installations, sand sculptures, and performance pieces by more than 140 artists from all parts of Iran. Just five months before that, the 15th festival, on Hormuz Island, included many international as well as Iranian artists and focused on the campaign against war and militarization of the Persian Gulf.
The images I found of all the festivals were deeply moving, a striking expression of how profound our connection to the natural world is, and how tragic the destruction we are inflicting on it. I can only imagine how powerful they must have been at the scene itself.
Nadalian’s brief descriptions of the theme or intent of the works were also moving, and made me want to know more about these festivals, and about environmental art in Iran in general. Unfortunately, my Internet search was not very helpful. So if anyone knows more about this event, I’d love to hear from you.
I did, however, find a great deal about Ahmad Nadalian himself, an internationally known environmental artist. According to his own description, Nadalian’s works draw upon a wide range of symbols, from ancient rituals and mythologies to contemporary subjects. They use a variety of media and techniques, including carved stones, installations, performances, video, web art, and public interactive pieces. One of his most common, and most striking, images is the fish or groups of fish, which he has carved on stones in rivers from Tajikistan to the United States. Sometimes he “frees” his fish, dropping them into bodies of water and creating water sculptures as they go.
Nadalian has also worked on and within the land: in the Hidden Treasures exhibition he and other people placed or buried his carvings as a way of preserving them for future generations. “What have we got to say to the people of next generations? What is our heritage for them?” he asks. “Global [warming], wars, and crises across the world may terminate the life of most…living creatures, including human beings. . . .If there is any audience in the future, [my] work will tell them the story of life and humanity.”
Nadalian is also involved with the Paradise International Residential Center of Environmental Art, where environmental artists are invited to work and interact with others from around the world.
Connections: A blog by Susan Weisberg 