Tarlan Rafiee (born 1980; ) is an Iranian visual artist, and

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

. She is known for her international contributions to

Iranian modern and contemporary art A cursory glance at the history of art reveals that social, political and economic conditions have always played a major role in the emergence of new artistic currents and styles. As an example ''Flight'' by Morteza Katouzian is showing the margin ...

. Rafiee is regarded as an influential female figure in contemporary Iranian art. Her work, ranging across painting, printmaking, installation, and sculpture, reflects pressing social concerns, particularly issues surrounding women in the Middle East. In addition to her artistic practice, she is also recognised as an international curator and researcher, with a primary focus on the role of women in Iran’s cultural and artistic history.

Career

Artwork

Rafiee embarked on her career as an artist in 2001, when she participated in a group exhibition in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

. Since then, she has exhibited her work in several group exhibitions exhibitions across Iran, as well as in Dubai, Austria, France, Italy, the United States, Denmark, and

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

. Throughout her career, Rafiee has explored a variety of spaces and mediums in her artistic practice. While her work spans painting, printmaking, installation, and sculpture, a consistent feature across these forms is her pop-inflected approach to subject matter and her critical engagement with the status of women in the Middle East, particularly in Iran. She frequently incorporates arrangements of images and portraits of prominent women—artists, writers, politicians, intellectuals, and actresses—alongside elements such as architecture, Persian miniature painting, floral and bird motifs, and similar iconography. Through these compositions, she explores the influence of women across various fields, especially within the gendered and patriarchal context of the Middle East. Her work consistently conveys a vision of women’s liberation from prevailing stereotypes and cultural constraints. Her notable exhibitions include ''Cars: Accelerating the Modern World'' (2013) at the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

; ''Iranian Voices'' (2017), curated by Venetia Porter at the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

in London; and ''Solace of Lovers: Trost Der Liebenden'' (2020–2021) at the

Tyrolean State Museum The Tyrolean State Museum (), also known as the Ferdinandeum after Archduke Ferdinand, is located in Innsbruck, Austria. It was founded in 1823 by the Tyrolean State Museum Ferdinandeum Society (''Verein Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum''). Sin ...

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

Austria, which she also co-curated. In December 2022, the

featured a work by Tarlan Rafiee, part of its permanent collection, alongside pieces by

Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian (; 13 January 1922 – 20 April 2019) was an Iranian artist and a collector of traditional folk art. She is noted for having been one of the most prominent Iranian artists of the contemporary period, and she was the ...

, Shadi Ghadirian,

Gohar Dashti Gohar Dashti (born 1980 in Ahvaz, Iran) is an Iranian photographer and video artist who lives and works in Tehran. The dominant theme in her work is her native country, its topography and history of violence. Her work has traveled internationally ...

, and

Newsha Tavakolian Newsha Tavakolian (; born 1981) is an Iranian photojournalist and documentary photographer. She has worked for ''Time'' magazine, ''The New York Times'', ''Le Figaro'', and ''National Geographic''. Her work focuses on women's issues and she has be ...

. These works were highlighted on the museum’s social media platforms as key pieces from its collection on the theme of women and femininity, in a gesture of support for Iranian women. Rafiee's artworks are housed in international collections, including the

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum). LACMA was founded in 1961 ...

, the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum,

Ducal Palace, Mantua The Palazzo Ducale di Mantova ("Ducal Palace") is a group of buildings in Mantua, Lombardy, northern Italy, built between the 14th and the 17th century mainly by the noble family of Gonzaga as their royal residence in the capital of their Duchy ...

, and the Tyrolean State Museum.

Curator

Rafiee initiated her curatorial career with the "Calling Project" in 2013, facilitating an exchange exhibition between British and Iranian artists. Since then, she has curated numerous exhibitions in Iran, Dubai, Austria, and Italy. The issue of women and their role in the flourishing of cultures is a central theme in Rafiee’s curatorial projects and written works. She particularly explores this subject within the context of Iranian culture and the broader Persianate world. By juxtaposing literary and cultural elements with historical female figures and modern or contemporary Iranian artists, she offers new interpretations of Iranian art. Rafiee has also addressed these topics in numerous essays and scholarly articles. Notable among her projects is ''Good Morning... Good Night. Five artists and a curator from Iran'' held at the Ducal Palace, Mantua, where she served as both curator, and wrote the accompanying exhibition book. It exhibited works from Iranian female artists, including Parvaneh Etemadi, Farah Ossouli, Nargess Hashemi, and Rozita Sharafjahan. The same exhibition was invited to take place at the Castello del Monferrato in

Casale Monferrato Casale Monferrato () is a town in the Piedmont region of Northwest Italy, northwestern Italy, in the province of Alessandria. It is situated about east of Turin on the right bank of the Po River, Po, where the river runs at the foot of the Montfe ...

in Italy. Another exhibition in her career is ''Solace of Lovers: Trost Der Liebenden'' (2020–2021), a collaborative curation effort with her spouse, Yashar Samimi Mofakham, and the state museum director,

Peter Assmann Peter Assmann (born 28 August 1963 in Zams) is an Austrian art historian, curator, writer, and visual artist. Early life and education Peter Assmann was born on 28 August 1963, in Zams, Austria. Assmann studied art history, history and German ...

, for the Tyrolean State Museum. In this exhibition, they presented the historical collection of

Albert Joseph Gasteiger Albert Joseph Gasteiger (known in Persian as Gāstager Khan; 28 March 1823–5 July 1890), was an Austrian nobleman and engineering officer. Born in Innsbruck, he became an instructor at the Dar ol-Fonun in Qajar Iran, as well as the manager of a ...

Qajar art Qajar art was the architecture, paintings, and other art forms produced under the Qajar dynasty, from 1781 to 1925, in Iran (Persia). The boom in artistic expression that occurred during the Qajar era was a side effect of the period of relative ...

, as well as Iranian masters, including

Parviz Tanavoli Parviz Tanavoli (; born 1937) is an Iranian sculptor, painter, educator, and art historian. He is a pioneer within the Saqqakhaneh school of art, a neo-traditionalist art movement. Tanavoli has been one of the most expensive Iranian artists in sa ...

, Jazeh Tabatabai, Reza Bangiz, Farah Ossouli, Nargess Hashemi, Mazdak Ayari, and Khosrow Sinai. Rafiee co-curated the exhibition, and co-wrote the 2020 exhibition book under the same title. In 2008, she co-founded '' Bread & Salt Projects'', a curatorial project as well as an extended archive and collection of Iranian modern and contemporary art in order to preserve the documents of the Iranian modern and contemporary art. Rafiee has been invited to give lectures or participate in panel discussions about the Iranian modern and contemporary art by the British Museum, the

Iran Heritage Foundation The Iran Heritage Foundation (IHF) is a United Kingdom–registered charity was founded in 1995 in London. The mission is to promote and preserve the history, languages and cultures of Iran and the Persianate world, covering all periods of Irani ...

, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. She often has worked alongside her spouse, Yashar Samimi Mofakham.

Curated exhibitions

* ''Selfdom / a personal project'', 2011, with Yashar Samimi Mofakham, Tehran, Iran * ''Tehran Calling: London'', 2013, with Yashar Samimi Mofakham, LPS, London, UK * ''Parviz Tanavoli’s Exercise Writing: 50 years of Iranian Pop Art'', 2016, with Yashar Samimi Mofakham, Shahrivar Gallery, Tehran, Iran * ''

’s Universal Icons: 50 years of Iranian Pop Art'', 2016, with Yashar Samimi Mofakham, Shahrivar Gallery, Tehran, Iran * ''RTL:LTR'', ''an exchange exhibition between Iran and Austria'' (right to left, left to right), with Yashar Samimi Mofakham,

, and CO:K; traveling exhibit to the Galerie Forum in Wels, Austria, 2016; the Artmark Galerie in Wien, Austria, 2016; the Lajevardi Foundation, in Tehran, Iran, 2016; and the

Museum of Contemporary Art, Isfahan The Museum of Contemporary Art is a contemporary art museum in Isfahan, Iran, located next to the Museum of Natural History. The museum is housed in the Chaharbagh Palace, originally built in 17th century under Safavid rule. Building Dates fro ...

, in Iran, 2016–2017 * ''Plants: Recent works by Parvaneh Etemadi'', 2017, with Yashar Samimi Mofakham, Dastan Gallery, Dastan Oustside, Tehran, Iran. * ''Good Morning... Good Night. Cinque artiste e una curatrice dall'Iran'' (English:''Good Morning... Good Night. Five artists and a curator from Iran''), 2018, Castello Di Moferrato,

, Italy * ''Good Morning... Good Night. Cinque artiste e una curatrice dall'Iran'' (English:''Good Morning... Good Night. Five artists and a curator from Iran''), 2018, Palazzo Ducale di Mantova, Mantova, Italy * ''Iran Print -01'', 2019, Meem Gallery, Dubai, UAE * ''Solace of Lovers: Trost Der Liebenden'', 2020–2021,

Innsbruck, Austria Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol and the fifth-largest city in Austria. On the River Inn, at its junction with the Wipp Valley, which provides access to the Brenner Pass to the south, it had a population of 132,493 in 2018. In the ...

Bibliography

By Rafiee

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About Rafiee

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rafiee, Tarlan Date of birth missing (living people) 1980 births Living people 20th-century art collectors 20th-century Iranian painters 20th-century Iranian women artists 20th-century Iranian women writers 20th-century non-fiction writers 20th-century printmakers 20th-century women painters 21st-century art collectors 21st-century Iranian painters 21st-century Iranian women writers 21st-century non-fiction writers 21st-century printmakers 21st-century Iranian women painters Artists from Tehran Iranian contemporary painters Iranian art collectors Iranian art critics Iranian art curators Iranian art writers Iranian printmakers Women art collectors Women art critics Women curators Writers from Tehran Iranian collectors