The 2nd Annual VIVA Exhibition
An Evolving Aesthetics of Interruption
Vancouver’s Iranian Visual Arts Alliance (VIVA) holds its 2nd annual art exhibition at the Yaletown Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre, during March 22–24, 2024. This 3-day art exhibition features the works of 18 accomplished visual artists predominantly based in BC. This year’s exhibition theme is “An Evolving Aesthetics of Interruption”, and it explores the different ways in which local artists represent and react to the relentless change, extreme contradiction, and constant disruption that shapes our times.
Join us at the opening night on March 22, 6–9 PM to meet the artists and the curators and celebrate local visual arts.
This exhibition is free and open to the public.
The Jury
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Hamidreza Jadid
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Mohsen Khalili
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Shoora Majedian
Participating Artists
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Vahid Dastpak
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Nakisa Dehpanah
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Miaad Eshraghi
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Rojina Farrokhnejad
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Leyla Fathi
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Elsa Hashemi
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Nicole Lau
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Syd Lewis
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Bettina Matzkuhn
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Banafsheh Modarresi
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Leila Modarresi
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Arezou Moeini
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Hajar Moradi
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Maryam Naderi
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Pouya Pourebrahim
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Niki Singleton
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Maryam Tavakoli Dastjerdi
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Hadis Vahidi
The Curators
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Shadi Shadbahr
Executive Director and Curator
Shadbahr makes the executive and curatorial decisions regarding VIVA’s annual exhibitions, the organization’s community engagement projects, and supportive services for local artists.
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Maryam Babaei
Artistic Co-Director and Curator
Babaei's responsibilities include concept development, research, and writing, among other curatorial activities in collaboration with the VIVA team. She holds a BA in English Literature (UBC), and an MSc in Literature and Modernity (University of Edinburgh).
The 1st Annual VIVA Exhibition
Poster design by Maryam Naderi
UNVEILING HONOUR
Emerging Expressions of Honour in Iranian Art
March 2023, VIVA curated an exhibition to support and advocate for the Iranian people’s peaceful but determined uprising to demand their basic human rights and freedoms which was met with the oppressive regime’s harsh dissent and deadly force. From removing compulsory headscarves in public to participating in ongoing protests and strikes, the people’s honourable acts of defiance at great personal risk continue to capture the world’s attention.
Visual arts can serve as a potent venue for examining, re-imagining, and inspiring values, beliefs, and aspirations that inform societies’ evolving notions of honour. Unveiling Honour is an exhibition of contemporary Iranian works that explore the individual and collective values that propel the Iranian people’s rebellion against oppression. In addition to highlighting the courage, selflessness, integrity, and resoluteness of people charging to reclaim their dignity, this exhibition aimed to communicate the anxieties and struggles of contemporary Iranian experience.