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The International Center for Creation and exhibition of Art in Nature Persian فارسي Our home is our Paradise Since 1996 every year I received international artists who came to visit our home, garden and artworks and we exchanged culture and art. I had built up this communication via the internet. To me the internet is a window through which I can see the world and I can be seen. I also use internet as a ladder or bridge to meet people face to face.
For us Paradise means an environment we created for working in nature with people and our satisfaction. We enjoy the interaction with people rejoicing in spiritual state in nature.
So far we received many international artists from countries as interesting as Germany, The Netherlands, UK, Lebanon, USA, Australia, Switzerland, Ireland, Japan, Greece, Belgium.
The International artists who came in summer time stayed in our little villa, and realized their environmental art in the nature of Iran or collected material to create art pieces in their homelands. They experienced living with Iranian families, society, and traditional food. In autumn and winter we live in small apartment near the Tehran Museum of Contemporary arts, and each year many international and local artists contact us to learn about Paradise, and Iranian contemporary art. We organize festivals, workshops, and art projects not only in the nature of different parts of Iran but also in city environments. We create an arena and allow these activities to have an international impact on the art scene. Our paradise is place where global and Iranian artists meet and exchange experiences.
In the past 12 months, we received many international artists in our Paradise. In spring of 2007 the Dutch artists, Rolina Nell and Paul Giesen traveled to Iran and stayed for one month in my mother ‘s home. The initial plan was for both artists to do a residency at The Paradise Art Center in Polour, but the winter was so long this year, they ended up staying in Tehran so that Rolina might realize her art works in the city. I was invited l to USA and couldn’t stay in Tehran leaving Rolina to work alone.
In September 12th the Iraqi artist, Mohamed Abdull traveled to Iran and stayed in my home. In the past sixteen years he lived in Netherlands and he couldn’t meet some of his family such as his sister. The initial plan was to visit his family who lived in Iraq and now they came to Iran. However Mohamed stayed a month in Iran and he presented his installation and performance in one of the Art faculties in Tehran.
Mohammad Abdoll From Iraq Now lived in UK
In October 2007 Belgian artist, Jean Francois Pirson traveled to Iran. During his stay he expressed his relationship to space through different practices (drawing, photography, installations, writing and walking in urban and mountainous environments. In the last few years, Jean-François Pirson combines his travels and his walks with his exploratory practices of space and uses photography as a medium to put in perspective parts of the world. When I worked in the mountains around Tehran Jean Francois Pirson accompanied me and documented my works through photography and drawing.
In December 2007 Bernhard Bub and Parisa Karimi from Germany contacted me and they interested to see our paradise and learn more bout environmental art in Iran. I invited them to participate our festivals in Persian Gulf. They are founder and member of Antagon group. They arrange workshops and work with young artists. One night we reviewed their works and discussed about theater and performance.
In March 2008 we met German artist Gloria Zein and a free lance journalist. They accompanied me and a young group of environmental artists and we went to mountains region of north Tehran and we realized some projects in nature. I used red earth and two students of philosophy assisted me to realize a combination of performance and painting by red earth on rock with their hands. The subject matter related to the story of eve. The other student made a site specific installation. The German artist, Gloria Zein relaze made some little installations too. The journalist, named Cordula Echterhoff , interviewed me about the situation of environmental art in Iran and how we can have an cultural exchange with west.
On the first January 2008 we received British sculptor, Benjamin Hewett (Ben) who came to our Paradise. He showed me his carvings that to me seem to be the standard of an artist from the west, but I was impressed of his life, and the way that he lives in the top of an old oak tree in west Wales and usually consumes and lives off the food which is “out of date”. He was not fully aware that the way that he lives can be a good base to be an eco-artist. He lives on the top of a tree and is sensitive about the waste of food. What he needed was to write a statement and introduce this way of life as an art concept.
Ben worked in my studio for three weeks and produced a number of carvings. As we worked, we discussed a lot and now he agrees with me that his life can be his art. In my view his tree house and why he eats wasted food is more interesting than his carvings.
In January 2008, Ben participated in the; Dream of Peace, the 15th Environmental Art Festival in the Persian Gulf, working individually and helping us to realize other collaborative projects, supporting peace and a reaction against war. Then Ben traveled to different parts of Iran and exploring our country, in some areas he continued to produce sculptures.
He stayed in Iran for three months and now he is proficient in Persian. In my recent trip to the central desert of Iran he accompanied me and my family and we traveled to the Maranjab desert on the southern side of the Sea of Salt.
While Ben was with us he always criticizesed people who left their garbage, plastic bottles and bags in nature. He also criticizes people around the world including Iranians that waste food. He said on his way to Iran while in transit in Milan airport he couldn’t let the food in the restaurant be wasted and happily devoured it. I suggest a performance related to this fact for his last dinner before his departure to the UK. We went to a fast food restaurant near Engelab square and Ben made one performance. He consumed the left over food wasted by its customers. This was a symbolic action to show people they should not waste food. They should buy only as much as they can eat. Billions of tons of food are thrown away each year, while millions of people suffering from starvation and hunger. The costumers were surprised why this foreigner who was eating the left over food. Some of them realized that their food may be eaten and quickly finished their plates and took the left over with them.
On the 2nd of April 2008, Ben went back home. Before he left I give him one of my carvings which had a design of a bird. I called this bird “the Bird of Peace”. Ben will take it home and make a nest in a hollow of a tree where he lives and this bird will start a new life. As an Iranian, I thought this can be the best present to give to the people of UK. I remember in April last year when I was in UK, at the same time when the British navy trespassed into Iranian waters and were arrested by the Iranian navy, I took my fish to the water of the Uk and no one arrested my fish. Creatures of our planet live without borders.
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