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Aun Gallery is a contemporary art gallery in Iran's capital city Tehran. [1] It is owned and created by Afarin Neyssari. [2] The building offers 120 square meters of open exhibition space, a five-meter high ceiling and a paneled roof.
The Vanak area has been popular with Iranian artists since the early 2000s, at which time it was a quiet residential area with light industry.[ citation needed ]
Aun's owner, Afarin Neyssari, and her husband Karan Vafadari were arrested in Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Intelligence Service (IRGIS) on 20 July 2016 when she was about to board a plane to travel to Italy in order to jump start an important art project, which was to prepare for Mr. Bizhan Bassiri's solo exhibition at the Venice Biennale festival as approved and certified by the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art and the Minister of Culture. Karan was supposed to join her a few days later on their trip, and to visit his three children who live in the US. Karan received a call from Afarin, and when he went to see her he too was arrested. [3]
Afarin and Karan were held in solitary confinement for over one month, and were not allowed to speak to a lawyer for 5 months. Afarin first spoke to a lawyer when she first showed up in court, 5 months after imprisonment. The Iranian judiciary has coerced the family to dismiss their chosen lawyer multiple times, and as of May 2017, they still have not found a suitable lawyer. [3] As a Zoroastrian, Karan could be another example in a history of confiscation of Zoroastrians' property. [4]
Karan is a US citizen, and Afarin is a Greencard holder. A wave of public support for Karan and Afarin followed, from the artistic community within Iran, as well as from customers and friends of Aun Gallery. Robert Toscano, former ambassador from Italy to Iran, refuted the authorities’ justification for their detention in an open letter, saying that “One has to be truly gullible and the easy victim of propaganda” to accept such charges. He continued, “The reason must be a different one…political blackmail toward the US (of which [she is] also citizens), envy for their success, intimidation toward the Zoroastrian community, desire to grab their properties, [and] repression of contemporary art.” [5]
Aun Gallery has appeared in magazines and publications such as Bidoun, [6] as well as other local and international publications. The gallery also featured in international travel magazine websites and online magazine The Culture Trip . [7]
Aun's artists have exhibited globally.[ citation needed ]
Artists shown at the gallery include:[ citation needed ]
Amirali Ghasemi is an Iranian independent curator, media artist, and graphic designer based in Tehran and Berlin. He is the founder and director of Parkingallery, an art space in Tehran that has established itself as an accessible platform for young Iranian contemporary artists. He also founded New Media Society and focuses on his curatorial projects at New Media Society and Tamaas Foundation for Media Arts.
Iran Darroudi was a prominent Iranian modern artist. Her work is characterized by surreal paintings that incorporate Iranian-themed imagery and striking lighting effects. Over the years, Darroudi divided her time between Tehran and Paris, where she developed her distinctive artistic style. Her contributions to modern art have left a lasting impact on Iranian art scene.
Parviz Tanavoli is an Iranian sculptor, painter, educator, and art historian. He is a pioneer within the Saqqakhaneh School of Art, a neo-traditionalist art movement. Tanavoli has been one of the most expensive Iranian artists in sales. Tanavoli series of sculpture work Heech are displayed in prestigious museums and public places, such as the British Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Hamline University, Aga Khan Museum, and as public art in the city of Vancouver. Additionally Tanavoli has written extensively on this history of Persian art and Persian crafts. Since 1989, Tanavoli has held dual nationality and has lived and worked both in Tehran, and Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver, British Columbia.
Bidoun is a non-profit organization focused on art and culture from the Middle East and its diasporas. Bidoun was founded as a print publication and magazine in 2004 by Lisa Farjam, eventually expanding to online publishing and curatorial projects. The print edition of the magazine was in publication from spring 2004 until spring 2013.
Farideh Lashai was an Iranian painter, printmaker, video artist, and translator. She was also a writer and translator. Her foremost book is Shal Bamu. She is renowned for her abstract contemporary paintings, which are a combination of traditional and contemporary views of nature.
A1one is the pseudonym of Karan Reshad, an Iranian visual artist who pioneered graffiti and street art in Iran. His career as a street artist began in his hometown Tehran.
Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian was an Iranian artist and a collector of traditional folk art. She is noted for having been one of the most prominent Iranian artists of the contemporary period, and she was the first artist to achieve an artistic practice that weds the geometric patterns and cut-glass mosaic techniques (Āina-kāri) of her Iranian heritage with the rhythms of modern Western geometric abstraction.
Darvish Fakhr is an Iranian American artist born in Newfoundland. He is an artist in the field of Iranian portrait paintings.
Afshin Naghouni is an Iranian-British visual artist, known for his controversial, larger-than-life paintings. From a critique about Naghouni’s paintings around the turn of the century: he works in an expressive and cubist style that explores every aspect of each object in his compositions, simultaneously.
The Office is a contemporary art gallery located in the centre of the old town of Nicosia in Cyprus near the boundaries of the Green Line, which makes Nicosia the last divided capital in Europe. The location is a stimulus for some artists who have exhibited their work in the Office gallery. It was founded in 2009 by the Greek Anastasios Gkekas.
Fatemeh Emdadian is a contemporary Iranian sculptor based in Mehrshahr, Karaj, Iran. She often creates sculptures using wood, bronze, and various casting materials.
Keyvan Heydari-Shovir, also known as CK1, is an Iranian-born contemporary artist, and street artist. His work combines Iranian traditional culture with contemporary pop culture, and he is a pioneer of Iranian graffiti art. He lives in Los Angeles, and previously lived in San Francisco and Tehran.
Karan Vafadari is a Zoroastrian Iranian-American businessman. He and his wife Afarin Neyssari were regulars in the Terhan art scene and owned Aun Gallery. They were arrested 2016 and placed in Evin Prison on charges of espionage, possession of alcohol, and "dealing in indecent art." They were released on bail in 2018 but, as of 2023, are still unable to leave Iran. He has three children who live in the United States.
Afarin Neyssari is an Iranian-American architect and the founder and owner of Aun Gallery. Neyssari and her husband Karan Vafadari, both Zoroastrians, were imprisoned in Evin Prison in Iran for two years without bail or trial before being released on July 21, 2018.
The Pejman Foundation is an Iranian nonprofit art foundation, established by Hamidreza Pejman in 2015, to promote art in a space free of nationality and geographical boundaries, and to connect the common aspects of art and philosophy. Throughout recent years, the activities of Pejman Foundation has expanded beyond building its collection and its grant and sponsorship program. Through the organization of workshops, lectures, and panel discussions; the invitation of international experts; its artist exchange programs; as well as its support for cultural research and publications, Pejman Foundation has become a creative hub for art practitioners and initiatives in Iran and abroad. Today, Pejman Foundation supports art and culture through a vibrant program of exhibitions, talks, and events at its multiple sites including Argo Factory and Kandovan.
Nazgol Ansarinia is an Iranian interdisciplinary visual artist. She is known for her mixed media sculpture and installation art. She lives in Tehran.
Argo Factory, is a contemporary art museum and cultural centre housed in a former brewery in Tehran, Iran. Argo Factory is part of the Pejman Foundation’s sites.
Simin Keramati is an Iranian-born Canadian multidisciplinary visual artist and activist. She is primarily known as a painter, video artist, installation artist, and filmmaker. Keramati lives in Toronto.
Parvaneh Etemadi is an Iranian visual artist. She is a painter, draftsperson, printmaker, and collagist. She is mostly known for her still life drawings on a cement support. Etemadi is a renowned female artist in her country, Iran, but is also known internationally.