Paper Works
Curators: Shirin Gharavisky in collaboration with Shahrzad Jahan

Soo Contemporary presents “Paper Works”, an exhibition of books and notebooks in collaboration with Shirin Gharavisky and Shahrzad Jahan at Soo building. This exhibition comprises a selection of art books along with a number of art books, sketchbooks and posters by various artists.At the final days of October 2022, Soo Contemporary consulted a number of artists and decided to reopen the space after being closed for a short period. The reopening marked a change in the former dynamics of the gallery, aiming to provide a space that offers new experiences. Taking part in social initiatives and offering collaborative effort, associations and institutions have always been able to overcome new conditions of life and plan for new ways of living. We aim to break the chains of despair by awakening imagination and turning it into a form of knowledge. Getting together, once again we define our world anew. The question is how can we get together and protect imagination in a society which desires renovation against oppressive forces?Through exhibition and participation, play and company, “Paper works” presents the creative means of arts in representational conditions, highlighting the capacity of printable media and the availability of books and notebooks as instances of accessible and portable means, both for the artist and the audience.In the curatorial process of this show, the focus has been on a variety of artistic adaptations along with the conscious application of effective media by artists, both of which pave the way for a better exploration of the artists’ relations with politics and power in the current situation. This exhibition was a collaboration between Shirin Gharavisky and Shahrzad Jahan. Paper works was made possible by the collaboration of two independent artistic platforms with Soo Contemporary.Shahrzad Jahan curated posters as well as presenting prints using different techniques.Shirin Gharavisky also contributed to the show by presenting a collection of artists’ sketchbooks centering around the theme of artist’s autonomy in dealing with oppression in times of crisis.“Showing a collection of works by more than 20 artists, we attempted to present an alternative approach on books, sketchbooks and posters, moving far from the usual expectations of a conventional gallery display. The unfinished nature of some of the sketchbooks reflect the continuation of our individual activities and collective cooperation. In other words, we are loyal to our bounds with the arts, research and education, raising critical awareness about the contemporary conditions of our society and we will never stop to work, produce and create.”

Group Exhibition:Koorosh Shishegaran, Shaghayegh Ahmadian, Aghigh Afkhami & Shahab Shah Ali, Mohammadreza Alaee, Bakhtiyari, Farhad Bina Zade, Dej Crew (Kiarash & Tamkin), Mila Fann, Ali Ghafari, Saeed Gholami, Mona HosseinZadeh, Shahrzad Jahan, Shayan Khosravi, Mahgol Mohammadi, Saba Mofarah, Zahra Mohamadzadeh, Atoosa Radmanesh, Ali Radmand, Aysa Rashid, Masa Reza, Erfan Salehi, Paniz Sohrabi, Mozhan Yaghoubi, Weishan Yang, Nima Zaare Nahandi, Ramtin Zad, Houman Nabavi (Najjar).