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artist's statement ::
about the artist |
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Artist's Statement
Hall of Reflections is a multi-dimensional archive of
personal photographs and narratives exploring the complex
migrant experience of men and women of the Iranian
Diaspora. Exhibited through site-specific installations
and virtual spaces, the archive draws on Persian and
Islamic designs and structures to construct layers of
historical and cultural references.
Hall of Reflections presents a wide range of immigrant
experiences, countering the de-humanizing and hostile
images of Iranians and Moslems portrayed in the popular
media. By bringing personal stories out of isolation and
presenting them collectively as part of a larger narrative
of a people, the project gives voice to a community that
has been rendered invisible or reduced to negative
stereotypes. The stories and photographs presented in
various site-specific installations create a much needed
space where Iranians and their U.S. born children are
represented positively, and where, through a complex lens,
their memories and histories are celebrated and
acknowledged as human stories.
Hall of Reflections installations are inspired by the
traditional mirrored gathering hall of historical
buildings in Iran. Displaying photographs and texts on
mirror and glass, these exhibits make available private
testimonies of migration, exile, displacement and
assimilation belonging to a cross-generational and
cross-cultural mix of Bay Area Iranians. |
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www.hallofreflections.net
Hall of Reflections' web project: Reflections and Remembrances, is an
original narrative that uses the oral history traditions of the Middle East
to tell its story, exploring the connections between storytelling, memory
and technology. The project makes available the large number of photographs,
writing and personal stories collected from the Iranian immigrant community
through personal interviews, correspondence as well as a series of writing
workshops, to the wide internet audiences. Reflections and Remembrances, is
presented as part of the California Council for the Humanities' California
Stories project. |
| Hall of Reflection's Site Specific
Installations (exhibitions) |
| 09/10/2002 -
10/12/2002 |
San Francisco
Arts Commission Gallery |
| 04/06/2003 - 05/06/2003 |
Sharjah 6th International Biennial |
| 09/17/2003 -
12/15/2003 |
Richmond Health
Center |
| 11/7/2003 - 12/8/2003 |
Articultural Gallery, 25 Years of Separation |
| 12/13/2003 |
Persian Center
Permanent installation |
| 2/7/2004 - 3/20/2004 |
Guggenheim Gallery, Poetics of Proximity |
| 10/16/2004 -
11/8/04 |
Worth Ryder
Gallery, Somewhere/Elsewhere |
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About the Artist
Taraneh Hemami is an Iranian born Bay Area artist and
community leader. She received her Masters of Fine Arts
from the California College of the Arts in Oakland,
California in 1991 and has exhibited her work widely ever
since. Fully committed to expanding the function of art in
society, she has developed collective, collaborative and
participatory projects that create spaces for dialogue,
encouraging public discourse and exchange through their
form and process. Her Hall of Reflections project has been
awarded a Creative Work Fund, a San Francisco Arts
Commission's Cultural Equity Grant and a California
Stories Fund through the California Council for the
Humanities. Hemami has been an artist-in-residence at the
Montalvo Artist Residency, the Djerassi Resident Artists
Program and the California Art Council. She co-curated the
exhibition Beyond Boundaries, Iranian Women Artists at
Worth Ryder Gallery, University of California, Berkeley
(with Iranian Women's Studies Foundation, 2000),
Trans/planting Contemporary Art by Women from/in Iran at A
Space, Toronto (with Gita Hashemi 2001) and is a
co-founder of Post-Exile Collective. |
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| Selected Exhibitions |
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2004 |
Somewhere Elsewhere, Worth Ryder Gallery,
Curated Exhibition, University of California at
Berkeley |
Berkeley, CA |
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Sacred Spaces, Berkeley Arts Center, Curated
Exhibition |
Berkeley, CA |
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The Drawing Project, Vamiali Art Gallery |
Athens, Greece |
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Poetics of Proximity, Guggenheim Gallery,
Curated Exhibition, Chapman University, |
Orange, CA |
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2003 |
Ruins, Sharjah 6th International Biennial,
Sharjah Museum of Art Curated Exhibition |
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Wall of Stories, Hall of Reflections, solo
exhibition, Persian Cultural Center |
Berkeley, CA |
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Re-Collections, Richmond Health Center, solo
exhibition, Installation |
Richmond, CA |
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25 Years of Separation, Articultural Gallery,
Curated Exhibition |
Pasadena, CA |
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2002 |
Hall of Reflections, San Francisco Arts
Commission Gallery, solo exhibition |
San Francisco, CA |
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2001 |
WordRoom, Post-Exile Collective, Janalyn White
Gallery |
Cedar Rapids, IA |
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Reconstructing Reality, The Oakland Gallery |
Oakland, CA |
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Alchemy, M. Y. Art Prospects, Curated by CIMA |
New York, NY |
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Re-Counting, Judah Magnes Museum, Telling Time |
Berkeley, CA |
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Calligraphic Legacy, Transamerica Pyramid Lobby
Gallery, Curated Exhibition |
San Francisco, CA |
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Trans/Planting, A Space Gallery, Curated by
Gita Hashemi and Taraneh Hemami |
Toronto, Canada |
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2000 |
Mirrors of the Invisible, Robert V. Fullerton
Art Museum, California State University, San
Bernardino |
San Bernardino, CA |
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Selections 2000, Yerba Buena Center for the
Arts |
San Francisco, CA |
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Beyond Boundaries, Worth Ryder Gallery, Curated
Exhibition, University of California at Berkeley |
Berkeley, CA |
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1998 |
Four Walls, Contemporary Arts Collective, Curated
Exhibition |
Las Vegas, NV |
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1996 |
Betrothed, Falkirk Cultural Center, Curated
Exhibition |
San Rafael, CA |
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1995 |
Sacred Space, The Lab, Solo Exhibition |
San Francisco, CA |
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Concepts and Dimensions, Trumbull Art Guild
Gallery |
Warren, OH |
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1994 |
Labyrinth of Exile, The J. Paul Getty Trust
Gallery, Fowler Museum, University of California at
Los Angeles |
Los Angeles, CA |
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Coming Across, Euthrat Museum of Art |
San Jose, CA |
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Beyond the Written Word, San Jose Institute for
Contemporary Art, Curated Exhibition |
San Jose, CA |
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