Iran: New Voices
Untitled Series: bedun e onvan 4
(untitled 4)

Mahmoud Bakhshi
Mahmoud Bakhshi was born in Tehran in 1977 and studied sculpture at the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Tehran. In 2007 he won artists residency in Seoul, Korea where he shot his video Jesus.

Vali Mahlouji
Born in Tehran, Vali Mahlouji came to London as a result of the outbreak of the Islamic Revolution in Iran to study archaeology and linguistics at the University of London, specialising in ancient Iranian art and antiquities as well as studying Old and Middle Persian for an MPhil in Iranian Philology. He subsequently established his own art gallery before also training in Fine Art and Theatre Design. As a designer his recent projects in theatre and film range from Maeterlinck's The Blind to Dvorak's Rusalka for amongst others the ICA, Riverside Studios, Arcola Theatre and Grange Park Opera, as well as short films for the BBC and UK Film Council. Vali has also worked extensively as a translator in collaboration with the Barbican, NFT, BFI, V&A and Channel 4. His translations and publications include Koohestani's Amid the Clouds (Royal Court), Samini's Eleventh Minute (BBC) and as a co-contributor on Islamic Affairs and Arts & Education for The Guardian.

Mitra Tabrizian
Photographer and filmmaker Mitra Tabrizian was born in Tehran in 1956 and lives and works in London. She has exhibited internationally and her films have been screened worldwide. Her large-scale photographs combine techniques more commonly utilized in documentary film-making to create elaborate, staged tableaux. Focusing on everyday, real-life situations, she invites local people to take part as actors, creating apparently realistic and mundane scenes. At the same time, the version of reality she presents is shot through with surreal detail and a strong allegorical content, commenting both on contemporary Iranian society and the universal human condition.

While some of her work is set within Iran itself, other photographs and films follow the lives and struggles of those forced into exile. Recent work has become both more extreme in the situations it portrays and more highly polished in execution, and she depicts hope and determination as finally conquering despair.