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Karnameh Exhibition

Visual Culture of Iranian Children; 1950-1980

Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (TMoCA)

Curated by Yashar Samimi Mofakham, Peyman Pourhosein, Ali Bakhtiari

Karnameh, the first curated archival exhibition at the Tehran Museum of Contemporry Art, surveying though more than three decades of visual creation for children in a cultural and socio-political context.

The exhibition is a journey through the early illustrations for educational books, photo documentaries of early century schools, Pioneers of image making and entertainment productions, effect of cold war, American hegemony and Iran between east and west, Oil-based economy and nationalization, religious alternative illustration and literature, revolution and imposed war.

Historical archives and collections, unique in its quality and quantity will showcase diverse media such as books, magazines, films and animations, artworks, ephemera…. Most of them less or unseen.

The collected archive is the result of collaboration of THEABcollection, StudioKargah Archive, Bread & Salt Collection, National Film Archive, Iran Cinema Museum, Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults, Iran Graphic Museum, Children’s Books Association and many other private archives and institutions.

As a special additional section to the exhibition, “Karnameh Theatre”, is a five-night film festival, screening films from 1950’s melodramatic Filmfarsis to the 1960’s early Iranian animations and the award winning shorts and animations of the 1970’s; as well as movies of the 1970’s which were banned or lost at the time of production, will be premiered during this event such as Amir Naderi’s lost movie, “The Winner”. Most of the screenings are 35 mm films from the archives of National Film Archive and Kanoon.

The importance of 79’s revolution days and beginning of the Iran-Iraq imposed war will be pictured through the lens of photo journalists such as Bahman Jalali, Raana Javadi, Maryam zandi and Jassem Ghazbanpour.

The “Mouse and Cat”, is a special section and an in-vivo part of the conceptual background of the “Karnameh” exhibition, covering Obeid Zakani’s masterpiece in different visual media such as illustrations and artworks of Ardeshir Mohassess, Mahmoud Javadipour, Jafar Tedjaratchi and anonymous artists.

Supporters: Bread & Salt Archives and Collection, Studio Kargah, Pejman Foundation, ABprojects, National Film Archive of Iran, Iran Graphic Museum, Iran Cinema Museum...