Tirdad Zolghadr (born 1973) works as a freelance

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 ...

, writes for

Frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...

magazine and has also contributed to

Parkett ''Parkett'' was an international magazine specializing in art. The magazine ceased publication in Summer 2017 with its 100th issue and now continues online as a time capsule and archive with some 270 in-depth artists portraits, artists documents, ...

Bidoun ''Bidoun'' is a non-profit organization focused on art and culture from the Middle East and its diasporas. Bidoun was founded as a print publication and magazine in 2004 by Lisa Farjam, eventually expanding to online publishing and curatorial p ...

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

Afterall Afterall is a nonprofit contemporary art research and publishing organisation. It is based in London, at Central Saint Martins. It publishes the journal ''Afterall;'' the book series ''Readers,'' ''One Works'' and ''Exhibition Histories.'' His ...

Neue Zürcher Zeitung The (''NZZ''; "New Newspaper of Zurich") is German language daily newspaper, published by NZZ Mediengruppe in Zurich. The paper was founded in 1780. It has a reputation as a high-quality newspaper, as the German Swiss newspaper of record ...

Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' (also known informally by its abbreviation ''ST'') is a Singaporean daily English-language newspaper owned by the SPH Media Trust. Established on 15 July 1845, it is the most-widely circulated newspaper in the country and ...

(Singapore) and other publications. He is co-founder of the Tehran-based feminist online magazine Bad Jens (1999) and co-director of "Tehran 1380" (with Solmaz Shahbazi), a documentary on mass housing estates in Tehran (2001). Since 2004, Zolghadr has curated events at

Cubitt Cubitt is a surname, and may refer to: *Bertram Cubitt KCB (1862–1942), civil servant in the British War Office * Clayton James Cubitt, a.k.a. SIEGE, American art photographer *David Cubitt (born 1965), Canadian television actor * Eleni Cubitt, f ...

London, IASPIS Stockholm, Kunsthalle Geneva, various Tehran artspaces, the

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a federal elective monarchy made up of seven emirates, with Abu Dhabi serving as i ...

pavilion at the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

and other venues. He was co-curator of the Taipei Biennial and the International

Sharjah biennial The Sharjah Biennial is a large-scale contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in the city of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. The first Sharjah Biennial took place in 1993, and was organized by the Sharjah Department of Cu ...

2005. Zolghadr is a founding member of the Shahrzad Design Collective.

Background

Zolghadr grew up 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. ...

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, North- and West Africa. He studied

Comparative Literature Comparative literature studies is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across language, linguistic, national, geographic, and discipline, disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role ...

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, then worked as a cultural journalist and translator before starting to work as a freelance art critic and curator.

Curator

Curated exhibitions: *Taipei Biennial 2010 *UAE National Pavilion in Venice 2009 *'Ethnic Marketing' at the Kunsthalle Geneva with M. Anderfuhren, 2004 *Various venues in Tehran in April 2006 *7th International Sharjah Biennial *Contributions to

Manifesta Manifesta, also known as the European Nomadic Biennial, is a European pan-regional contemporary cultural biennale. History Manifesta was founded in 1994 by Dutch art historian Hedwig Fijen. The first edition took place in Rotterdam. One of t ...

6 * Lapdogs of the Bourgeoisie: 2006-2009 Gasworks, London,

Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center The contemporary art institution Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center opened in 2001 and was located on the pedestrian Istiklal Avenue in Istanbul, Turkey. Platform Garanti organized exhibitions; conferences and events; hosted an internationa ...

, Istanbul, Tensta Konsthall, Townhouse Cairo (2008), Arnolfini Bristol (2009)

Writer

Tirdad Zolghadr has also written a novel, "Softcore", published by Telegram Books in the UK (2007: ) and Kiepenheuer & Witsch in Germany (2008)

...Tirdad Zolghadr's debut novel tells the story of the Promessa nightclub in Tehran, once a glamorous cocktail bar of the 70s and soon to be reopened as a heady mix of art, fashion, and culture. Narrated by an art enthusiast who soon finds himself locked into a complex political detective story, Softcore traces the story of modern-day Iran with wit and panache.3:AM Magazine » Softcore Uproar
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zolghadr, Tirdad Swiss art curators Living people 1973 births