title: Reviving identity
title: an investigation of identity in Iranian artworks in the period 1958-1966
      in relation to a contemporary fine art practice
titleType: Subtitle
Creators: name: Takht Keshian, Fatemeh
Publisher: name: Lancaster University
Year: 2016

description: This practice-based research explores the notion of Iranian cultural
      identity as reflected in artworks exhibited in the Tehran Biennials (1958-
      1966) and in a particular individual practice. This research uses the five
      Tehran Biennales and their national and international context as a tool to
      reveal the development of their influence on the construction of new
      images of Iranian identity. 
      
      The research frames these national exhibitions within the influence of
      Western modernism and Western critique of orientalism. It frames its
      enquiry in historical and theoretical research and my studio practice as a
      contemporary Iranian artist. It constructs a methodology appropriate for
      visual analysis across the five events and for examination and comparison
      of individual artists and artworks. A core aim of the enquiry is gaining
      better understanding of the tensions between Iranian-Islamic and
      pre-Islamic traditions and of the changing national sentiment and the
      influence of Western modernism in the arts. My method includes ‘action
      research’ that juxtaposes the theoretic, historic, and artistic aspects
      based on a ‘self-observer’ and ‘observer of others’. By its cycling of
      studio production and reflection through critical and visual analysis,
      this method has enabled me to explore theoretical and historical contexts
      in my works. 
      
      The research also examines the motivations and influence of Iranian state
      ideology on the formation and discontinuation of the biennales as
      instruments for cultural innovation and internationalisation. As all
      biennales by their nature seek to survey a field of activity, the research
      has remained sensitive to a wide range of artists engaged across a
      spectrum of practices between 1958 and 1966. For some, the period marked a
      return to their traditions and heritage to recognise and distinguish their
      national identity from Western art. For others, the new challenges enabled
      new representations relevant to Iran in the twentieth century. Between
      these poles, there were many types of ‘return’ and re-emergence, some to
      Iranian and Islamic heritage, others to an earlier hospitality for
      international influence. This ten-year period holds the key to my own
      understanding of my studio practice and the emergence of collage as a
      technique central to my work. Collage and mixing media have become
      powerfully associated with the challenges I face in negotiating between
      East and West, old and new values, and my changing perceptions of myself.
      The different layers in collage and its variety of media metaphorically
      suggest the concept of Iranian identity as a layered and collective
      identity. 
      
      While my practice comprises autobiographical elements, it is nonetheless
      analytical in that it draws on the history of the Biennial period. The
      Tehran Biennials and their attempts to form a new Iranian art provide the
      background against which I project my conceptions of identity and memory.
      They are part of the legacy that enables me, a contemporary Iranian woman
      artist, to explore the various perspectives regarding Iranian identity and
      the means by which artists visualise it. Moreover, the practice-based
      method adapted in this research has enabled me to combine historical
      overview, visual analysis of modern art in Iran, and contemporary insights
      to offer new an understanding of how art reflects changing identities.
      This study defines identity, in a personal level, as a multi-layered
      identity, including fragmented and fragile layers that form within
      socio-cultural and individual values.