Lecture

REALTY:
Resolution 3: Municipalism (Tehran)

Dates

Sat, 21.04.18

Time

17:00

Venue

Studio, front buildung, 1st floor

Language

en

This afternoon lecture by Tehran-based artist and architect Homayoun Sirizi explores the history of municipal “Shora-ye Shahr” structures in Iran. Shortly after the 1979 revolution, local instruments of governance were reorganized, in view of increasing democratic control at the hands of neighborhood inhabitants. Like many other things in the 1980s, however, things took a complicated turn.

Sirizi’s research is particularly significant at a time when ideas of emancipation via local city governance are gaining traction in Europe, in the guise of ”New Municipalism”. By means of such international comparisons, the REALTY program strives for a global take on the gentrification debate. Not only is uneven urban development a planetary beast; any answers via contemporary art need to be global ones necessarily. International platforms, after all, are our one main forte here.

As a respondent to Sirizi, we will be joined by architect and researcher Niloufar Tajeri, from the Institute for Architectural Theory (GTAS), TU Braunschweig (DE). On this occasion, REALTY is building on a budding collaboration with Shifting Panoramas, a research and exchange program between Berlin and Tehran. Shifting Panoramas, curated by Solmaz Shahbazi and Azar Mahmoudian, equally features contributions by Sirizi and Tajeri, and explores metropolitan differences-in-similarity through a series of events in both capitals.

Part of project: REALTY

The project REALTY focused on the role of contemporary art in recent histories of gentrification. These days, it seems one artist, one venue, one model after another is being unmasked as being part of the problem. But we will not be discussing art’s shortcomings yet again. Instead, REALTY asked how art’s international playing field can be put to better use. It insisted on moving beyond critique, and towards an attempt at productive models, however vague or naive. The KW leg of REALTY kicked off in October 2017, with a series of public lectures, workshops, and screenings. The project was conceived by Tirdad Zolghadr, KW’s Associate Curator, and commissioned by KW and Sommerakademie Paul Klee Bern.

Curator: Tirdad Zolghadr
Curatorial Assistance: Sabrina Herrmann

REALTY was funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Europe, Berlin.