Slide Presentation and Discussion:
MOHAMMAD JAVAD JAHANGIR,
THE INVISIBLE CROWD
Presented by Mohammad Salemy
Friday, August 14, 2009, 8:30 pm
Little Mountain Studios
195 E. 26th Ave (at Main St.), Vancouver, B.C. Canada

From Mohammad Javad Jahangir, The Invisible Crowd "Do not write the history of Iran in a foreign hand"

DADABASE is pleased to announce a slide presentation, followed by a discussion, about Mohammad Javad Jahangir's recent exhibition The Invisible Crowd on DADABASE.CA with the curator of the exhibition, Mohammad Salemy.  The discussion will focus on the history of the crowd in Iranian politics.

The Invisible Crowd borrows its name from a sign that has inspired the work.  During one of the early pro-Ahmadinejad rallies before the recent Iranian presidential elections, Mohammad Javad, who was present at the scene, noticed a sign in the crowd that poked fun at the lack of the global media coverage of large pro-Ahmadinejad demonstrations.  The sign depicted a television containing a still-frame of an empty city street with the CNN logo at the bottom.  Underneath the television set read the words "We are the invisible crowd for the western media."

With this series of photographs, Mohammad Javad attempts to map the social and economic makeup of the pro-government masses in Iran.  Ignored by the modern secular middle class as uneducated, ignorant, and/or hired bodies, the pro-government crowd has been, and continues to be, an important part of the political developments in Iran.

Based in Tehran, Mohammad Javad Jahangir is an artist with a background in Islamic studies at a seminary.  He has studied and worked with Iranian artists Abbas Kiarostami, Reza Abedini, and Mohsen Rastani on several projects.  His work has been featured by BBC, Reuters, and other international news organizations.  He graduated from Tarbiate Moalem University of Tehran in January 2009.

Mohammad Salemy is an artist and curator of the former DADABASE Gallery.  He is also known for his writing and activism.  A graduate of the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, he is currently an MA student at the University of British Columbia.  His work has been included in solo and group exhibitions locally and nationally.  He is currently working on a group exhibition for Artspeak Gallery scheduled to open on September 11th, 2009, titled Race: Proposals in Truth and Reconciliation.   Read Mohammad Salemy, "Iran's Quiet Revolution: Mohammad Javad Jahangir's The Invisible Crowd" (MRZine, 28 July 2009).