Join us for a private breakfast and tour with Iranian artist Bita Ghezelayagh (b. 1966), in conversation with Vali Mahlouji, independent curator, advisor and founder of non-profit platform Archaeology of the Final Decade, for the exhibition 'The Resistance of Pen and Paper' at Richard Saltoun Gallery, which brings together a group of artists from North Africa and the Middle East, who use calligraphy and written language to reflect on issues around identity, gender politics, cultural heritage and displacement. 

Bita Ghezelayagh's works reinterpret techniques and materials associated with traditional Iranian craft in a contemporary artistic context. The exhibition includes a series of silkscreen-printed calligraphic works on embroidered, hand-woven textiles, as well as a sculptural installation incorporating hundreds of antique pen nibs into pieces of coloured glass, which she sourced from a market in Tehran. 

In the artist's own words:  "My work is inspired by my hybrid upbringing in Tehran where I experienced a French catholic school education during the day, in contrast to the bed time stories told by my devoted grandmother, rooted in Islamic traditions. Being attracted to the process of transformation to freshen the old and the neglected, I have been using silk-screen printing on hand woven and antique textiles to add a modern value to those threadbare or forgotten materials. I’m exploring the different possibilities for communication in our modern times using my cultural inheritance through the warp and weft of such ancient techniques."

Ghezelayagh's works are included in prestigious public collections worldwide, such as the British Museum, London, the Farjam Foundation, Dubai, and the Devi Art Foundation, Delhi.

The exhibition features additional works by: Nasrollah AFJEI (b. 1934, Iran), Maliheh AFNAN (1935, Palestine - 2016, UK), Fathi HASSAN (b. 1957, Egypt), Huda LUTFI (b. 1948, Egypt) and Shirin NESHAT (b. 1957, Iran).

Booking is required as capacity is limited

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