Sohrab Kashani ( fa, سهراب کاشانی) is an Iranian artist and
contemporary art
Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic co ...
curator.
Work as artist
Super Sohrab (2009-present)
Super Sohrab, Kashani’s alter-ego is a superhero who utilises satire and failure in their attempts to navigate the everyday challenges of daily life. Through the documentation of some of their own life events and their own failures, Super Sohrab addresses local and global socio-political problems. Super Sohrab's work often comprises performative interventions presented in photographs, videos, comics, text, and other formats. Super Sohrab also arm-wrestles in public to challenge and discuss power dynamics and sets up lifting workshops to practice resilience and resistance.

The Other Apartment (2019-2020)
The Other Apartment was a collaborative project between Kashani and
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
-based artist
Jon Rubin
Jon Rubin is a contemporary artist based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and a professor at Carnegie Mellon University.
Projects
Fruit and Other Things
''Fruit and Other Things'' (2018-2019) is a project created in collaboration with artist Len ...
that occurred simultaneously in Kashani's apartment in Tehran and an exact replica of that apartment and all of its contents at the
Mattress Factory
The Mattress Factory is a contemporary art museum located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was a pioneer of site-specific installation art and features permanent installations by artists Yayoi Kusama, James Turrell, and Greer Lankton. The museum ...
museum in
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
, U.S. Using detailed photographs from Kashani (who was not able to travel to the U.S. due to the travel ban on Iranian citizens), the artists worked with a team of fabricators to meticulously recreate his Tehran apartment's facade, interior architecture, and all of his personal possessions. From his soap dish to his furniture, everything in The Other Apartment was purchased, altered, or entirely fabricated to replicate what existed in Kashani's apartment. Located within The Other Apartment, in both Tehran and Pittsburgh, was
Sazmanab
Sazmanab ( fa, سازمان آب) is a curatorial project which originally started as an artist-run space and residency program in Tehran, Iran, in 2008. Sazmanab supported artistic work in a wide range of media through exhibitions and events, r ...
, Kashani's contemporary art space. Sazmanab produced programs where every object, video, and performance that happened in one space was meticulously duplicated for the other.
Darookhaneh Apotheke Pharmacy (2022)
Darookhaneh Apotheke Pharmacy was a collaborative project between Kashani and
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
-based artist Anahita Razmi. It comprised a large installation filled with Iranian pharmaceuticals and medication packages at uqbar projectspace in
Berlin
Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...
and an online conversation platform for discussing global imbalances in health economies and logistics. Transcultural (dis)connections, inequalities in distribution, pharma-economic power dynamics, trade restrictions, and legal obstacles were some of the topics echoed in the exhibition.
Work as curator
Sazmanab (2008-present)
Sazmanab
Sazmanab ( fa, سازمان آب) is a curatorial project which originally started as an artist-run space and residency program in Tehran, Iran, in 2008. Sazmanab supported artistic work in a wide range of media through exhibitions and events, r ...
is a curatorial project by Kashani which he originally started as an
artist-run space
An artist-run space or artist-run centre (Canada) is a gallery or other facility operated or directed by artists, frequently circumventing the structures of public art centers, museums, or commercial galleries and allowing for a more experimental ...
and residency program in
Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the Capital city, capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is th ...
in 2008. From 2008 to 2014, Sazmanab was located in an apartment in the
Sadeghiyeh district of Tehran and later in 2014 was relocated to an old building on Khaghani street near Darvaze Dolat in downtown Tehran. Sazmanab set up more than hundred events and exhibitions at its venues. Events included talks, presentations, lectures, panels, discussions, workshops, performances, screenings, book launches, and audio/visual performances. Sazmanab also held talks and presentations at universities, museums, and institutions and took part in international panels, seminars, and forums. Over the years, Sazmanab held some of its programming off-site in collaboration with other art spaces and art galleries.
Exhibitions curated
*Sohrab Kashani and
Joseph del Pesco, ''Voice-over (in three parts)'' Sazmanab (Tehran, Iran) and Mattress Factory Museum (Pittsburgh, PA, United States), 2019.
*Sohrab Kashani, ''Shattered Frames: Recent video work from Iran,'' Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA, United States, 2016.
This series of videos was later screened in Tehran, at the
Pejman Foundation
The Pejman Foundation is an Iranian nonprofit art foundation, established by Hamidreza Pejman in 2015,Thomas Erdbrink (20 October 2017)Selling the Porsche to Promote Iranian Art ''The New York Times'' Myrna Ayad (03 May 2016Meet the Iranians Help ...
''Kandovan'' site.
*Sohrab Kashani and Reza Aramesh, ''Centrefold Project: Spring of recession,'' Sazmanab, Tehran, Iran, 2015.
*Sohrab Kashani, ''Mapping Within: An Alternative Guide to Tehran'', The Mine, Dubai, UAE, 2015.
*Sohrab Kashani, ''Lost & Found in Tehran: Contemporary Iranian Video'', Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio, United States, 2013.
*Sohrab Kashani, ''Subjective Truth from Iran'', Center for Contemporary Art Tbilisi (CCA-T), Tbilisi, Georgia, 2013.
*Sohrab Kashani and Sandra Skurvida, ''Still Lives and Selected Acts'', Dastan's Basement, Tehran, Iran, 2013.
*Sohrab Kashani and Sandra Skurvida, ''TVDinner Tehran'', Sazmanab (Tehran, Iran) and Immigrant Movement International (New York, USA), 2011.
*Sohrab Kashani, ''The 1st Tehran Annual Digital Art Exhibition (TADAEX)'', Mohsen Gallery, Tehran, Iran, 2011.
*Sohrab Kashani and
Jon Rubin
Jon Rubin is a contemporary artist based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and a professor at Carnegie Mellon University.
Projects
Fruit and Other Things
''Fruit and Other Things'' (2018-2019) is a project created in collaboration with artist Len ...
, ''The Tehran/Pittsburgh YouTube Mix'', The YouTube School for Social Politics, 2009.
See also
*
Modern and contemporary art in Iran
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kashani, Sohrab
1989 births
Living people
Art curators
Iranian video artists
Conceptual artists
Artists from Tehran