Reykjavík Grapevine - 24.08.2007, Side 25

3_REYKJAVÍK_GRAPEVINE_ISSUE 13_007_TRAVEL/IRAN RVK_GV_13_007_TRAVEL/IRAN_33
Last June, a group of 16 artists from nine dif-
ferent nationalities flew to the Iranian capital
Teheran to work on an extensive art project in
the city. Working with the concept ‘I’m longing
for and I don’t know what,’ the participating
artists, who had all lived and studied in Berlin,
arrived empty-handed to the capital and for
two weeks travelled around the city, visited
peaceful mosques, workshops and galleries
and got influenced by the changed environ-
ment and the locals. Despite some obstacles
and difficulties with the authorities, the project
was a success and their visit concluded with
a large exhibition at the House of Iranian Art-
ists where they presented installations, video
art, sculptures and photographs. Among the
participants was Icelandic artist Sara Riel,
who grabbed the attention by creating a mini
“glacial lake” in an outside pool while the air
temperature reached more than 40 degrees
in the city.
Respecting Social Values
The project was organised by Iranian artist Leila
Pazooki, who currently lives in Berlin, and will
later be presented in a form of a video. “This
project was part of Leila’s Master’s degree and
she invited us to be part of it. She organised
the trip and the exhibition and documented
the whole process, how locals responded to
our visit and our artworks and how we reacted
to this new situation and the cultural differ-
ences,” Sara explains. And the process was
challenging, sometimes overwhelming, but
for the most part an incredibly rich experience
for them all she says.
“Before I left, my friends had warned me
and told me to be careful. I guess some people
think of Teheran as a dangerous place, but
that is a misunderstanding. Many people are
prejudiced against Iranians and their beliefs and
even confuse Iran with Iraq, which is very ironic
as these two countries are old enemies. My
experience is that Teheran locals are incredibly
friendly and hospitable people. They are polite
and easy going and most of all very curious
about foreigners. They ask questions and are
eager to exchange stories with travellers. I
never experienced any fear or insecurity when
I strolled around the city. I just minded my own
business,” she explains and continues:
“What I found most difficult was the un-
bearable heat outside. Every day the tem-
perature reached about 40 to 45 degrees and
air pollution is a huge problem in the city as
well, which only made matters worse. About
29 people die each day because of the air
pollution. At the same time, I had to respect
the dress code and wear a long-sleeved dress,
pants and cover my hair with a scarf when I
was in public places. It took me some time to
get used to that.” The clothing rules have be-
come even stricter than they used to and Sara
tells me that repression has increased when it
comes to expressions of individuality.
“There are countless laws that control the
people and everything is split between the gen-
ders, publicly. When we for example wanted
to go for a swim to cool down, we had to go
in separate groups. The girls before noon and
the guys after noon. It also took me some time
to remember that I wasn’t allowed to shake
hands with men in public,” she says.
There are also laws against alcohol in Iran,
but locals find their ways to get their goods.
Although alcohol is illegal, bottles can be bought
from special dealers on the black market and can
be enjoyed it in the privacy of one’s home.
“Leila is involved in the art scene in Teheran
so we got to know Iranian artists who invited
us to parties. They are very open people and
when they have a reason to celebrate, they
do it properly. They drink, dance and sing
and feel free to wear the clothes they like.
The girls dress in mini-skirts and don’t need to
cover their hair. As individuals, partying behind
closed doors, men and women in Teheran are
equals,” she adds.
Glacial Lake in the City Centre
There is a big difference between private and
public spaces and all sincere interactions hap-
pen inside people’s homes but not out on the
streets, Sara says, and strict rules apply to the
way people are allowed to behave in public.
It is, for example, illegal to photograph public
buildings and some of the artists got into
trouble by breaking the rules. One girl lost her
video camera and another one got busted for
photographing a TV tower.
“The police watched carefully what we
were working on just to see if everything was
morally acceptable. They also wanted to show
their power” Sara explains adding:
Icelandic Art in Iran
Text by Steinunn Jakobsdóttir Photos by Sara Riel
“The gallery is run by the government so we had to
explain every aspect of our projects and give a full re-
port on what we planned to do, which is nothing but
censorship. Many ideas never became a reality and one
guy actually had to change his project, which was quite
funny though. He had built a giant satellite out of metal,
recorded sounds on the streets of Teheran and wanted
to make a sound installation. As satellites are forbidden
in Iran he got a firm no. But he found a way to bend the
rules. He decided to make a large spoon out of the same
metal and put it a few metres away from the satellite so
it would look like a bowl of soup. He then named the
piece ‘Guten appetit, das ist kein Satelit.’”
Asked if many of the artists attempted to provoke
the authorities with their projects, Sara says the majority
of them tried not to stir things up.
“I had no urge to challenge their politics or social
values and I think most of the artists shared the same
view.”
One part of the project was to start from scratch so
the artists had no ideas or materials to work with when
they arrived in Teheran and had to walk around the city
and search for inspiration. One of those walks led Sara
into a small store which sold jelly wax, (the same kind
of wax sometimes used to make candles). She bought
a large bucket and started to experience.
“Jelly wax is a peculiar material. It looks exactly like
frozen water and you can shape it in various forms. In
the heat, it melts fast but when put it in water it stays
exactly the same, just like real ice chunks. From the
beginning, I wanted to do something outdoors and
outside the gallery was a small pool. After I bought the
jelly wax I got the idea to put the chunks of wax in the
pool and make them resemble ice cubes floating in a
lake and create an illusion. When you look at the pool
from some distance you think that the water is cold
and the wax is actually ice floating on the surface, but
when viewed more carefully you realise differently” she
explains. The 40 degrees temperature and the physically
unpleasant feeling of the unbearable heat mixed with
the thought of floating ice cubes in cold water made
the contrast even stronger.
“The idea worked and fitted well with the concept,
‘I’m longing for and I don’t know what’. People at
the opening understood my idea and the Teheran kids
played around with the chunks in the pool, just like I
wanted. After the opening night, we were off again,
and had to leave all the artworks in the gallery and say
our goodbyes. That is a good feeling though, to know
you have left something behind.”
You can view some of Sara Riel’s artworks on:
www.sarariel.com.
“I had no urge to challenge
their politics or social values
and I think most of the artists
shared the same view.”
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