Help bring an exhibition of Iranian-American artists to UT!

Grasping fragments, or otherwise calculating distance is a group exhibition that will take place at the Visual Arts Center (VAC), a contemporary art gallery housed in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Texas at Austin. Entry to the VAC is always free, and the show will be on display from January 24 – February 21, 2020.

Help make this show possible! We are raising funds to cover the costs of artists' travel and accommodations, exhibition fabrication and installation, shipping, and material production costs.

What is the Center Space Project?

Center Space Project (CSP) is a student-run curatorial collective that works in conjunction with the Visual Arts Center and provides opportunities to UT students interested in participating in a larger artistic community. The organization fosters dialogue between undergraduate and graduate students as well as art professionals outside of the University. Members contribute their unique interests and skills to the collaborative production of exhibitions and events in Austin. This exhibition was selected by the CSP team in conjunction with the VAC, and would not be possible without their incredible support.

You can learn more about CSP here.

Who are the artists? What is their show about?

Grasping fragments, or otherwise calculating distance includes the work of four Iranian-American artists—Nassem Navab, Bahareh Khoshooee, Mahsa Biglow, and Sareh Imani—who employ photography, video, performance, and installation to investigate issues surrounding women’s rights in Iran, diasporic experience, censorship, technology, war, and dislocation of the self.

Employing techniques such as distortion, glitch, layering, splitting, and hybridity, their work speaks to the particular qualities of new media art, as well as the ways in which digital technology can both bridge and intensify these distances. In this exhibition, the politics of such distances—geographical, cultural, bodily, and linguistic—are ever-present, as each artist considers the actions and implications that arise when one is made to move between cultures, languages, media, and landscapes. 

What are you raising money for?

This exhibition is an opportunity to highlight and platform the work of these four incredible Iranian-American artists. This is an ambitious show, and as such we are raising funds through UT's Hornraiser crowdfunding platform. The money will go directly towards the production of the artists' work, and providing for all of their material and logistical needs (this includes travel, as all the artists are outside of Texas, and would be unable to afford the trip here otherwise).

Why do you need my help?

As at curator within a student-run collective, and as four emerging artists, we are seeking to produce a museum-quality exhibition independently. Although our project has received some financial support from the VAC, we need your help to make our exhibition happen at the scale and level of professionalism we envision. This is an amazing opportunity for everyone involved: for CSP and its largely-undergraduate membership, for Celia Shaheen, a student who has never curated a show of this scale, for artists Nassem Navab, Bahareh Khoshooee, Mahsa Biglow, and Sareh Imani, who will be showing their work in Texas for the very first time, and for the whole University community, who will have access to a powerful and exciting exhibition--one that feels especially important and urgent in our current political climate.

Art-making is expensive, and the material and economic conditions of academic or post-grad life make it difficult for emerging artists and researchers to be able to organize and find mobility in the art world--doubly so for those whose voices and labor are regularly dismissed, overlooked, or deliberately silenced. This opportunity, for institutional support, for visibility and professional backing, is an incredibly valuable asset for myself and for every one of the amazing artists involved. I know that we all are delighted and hopeful for this show, and urge you all support this work however you can. If you have ever wondered how to get involved or support the arts community, this is the opportunity!