Art and Social and Political Movements (Ancient Period)

Throughout history, social and political movements have played an important role in shaping art, and artists have responded to these events by employing their creative skills. Social and political movements are complex phenomena, and defining them precisely is not easy. In general, they can be understood as collective efforts by a group of people who share common goals or grievances and seek to bring about social or political change through collective action. In these movements, symbols, narratives, and cultural identities are typically used to attract attention and support for collective action. This article examines the role of social and political movements in the formation and transformation of art in three sections: “Ancient Period,” “Renaissance to Romanticism,” and “Modernism to Contemporary.”

In recent decades, the Middle East has faced ongoing political, economic, and social crises. These crises affect not only the content of artworks but also their form and structure. In common artistic analyses of crisis, narratives often have a defined beginning and end, and works are considered meaningful only when they directly reference war, repression, or catastrophe. This perspective, however, reduces art to a document or the testimony of a witness, overlooking a deeper understanding of art under conditions of survival. A more complex relationship emerges between the realities of life and visual approaches, where art becomes a formal response to the struggle to endure. This essay examines the aesthetics of contemporary Middle Eastern art in conditions of survival. From this perspective, the use of unstable media, unfinished narratives, low visual quality, silences, and refusals are conscious or inevitable strategies for documenting, continuing, and expressing ongoing resistance.

The focal point of wars, to a large extent, also encompasses cultural arenas, since each side seeks to assert the superiority of its own identity over the other in order to establish greater legitimacy before the world, and particularly before the opposing side. Here, artistic production becomes a central practice. Murals, songs, performances, and graffiti inscribe narratives of struggle and hope into everyday life. Art can have effects that both undermine the enemy’s morale and, through propaganda, counter the other side while constructing a narrative that resists repression. These narratives motivate people to participate in the field and defend what they believe in, serving as a symbolic archive of the hardships the people have endured and acting as a resource for collective memory. Many times, artworks are displayed directly on the battlefield, while at other times, memory persists in the battlefield through them.

The press conference for the first episode of Tehran Art Fair, attended by some members of the Gallery Owners Association, was held on Friday, December 11, in the event's meeting hall located in the Intellectual Development Center for Children and Adolescents.

The solo exhibition of Arman Yaghoobpour, titled In the Color of the Sky, will open on Friday, December 12, at Artibition Gallery. The exhibition features a selection of natural landscapes characterized by a predominant use of blue. Arman Yaghoobpour is a landscape painter who has previously presented his works at Artibition Gallery on several occasions. In addition, the book Simplicity Is Beautiful, containing critical essays on Yaghoobpour’s art along with reproductions of all his works, written by Hossein Ganji, was published in 2023 by Talaar Art Publishing.

Landscape painting throughout the history of art has never been merely a record of nature; rather, it has served as a field for reflecting human aesthetic, cultural, and philosophical concerns. From the romantic landscapes of the nineteenth century to the modern and abstract representations of the twentieth century, landscape painting has continuously engaged with light, color, form, and space, creating unique experiences of humanity’s relationship with its environment. The year 2025 witnesses a series of international exhibitions that revisit this long-standing tradition with a fresh perspective, tracing its evolution from classical landscape to contemporary visions. This article explores a selection of these exhibitions.

An exhibition of works by Kambiz Derambakhsh, titled “Tail and Snout,” will be presented on the Artibition website on Tuesday, December 9. The exhibition features a selection of the artist’s colorful works from the 2000s, along with some pieces related to his period of activity in the press and illustration. This collection primarily reflects Derambakhsh’s perspective on animals and plants, and on the coexistence of humans with this aspect of nature.

The book Essays on Contemporary Curatorship, compiled and translated by Savana Baghozyan, has been published by Art Hall Press. Comprising eleven texts across four chapters, the book is shaped around new concepts and effective current approaches in the field of curatorship. A section of the book’s description states: “Today, curatorship stands at the intersection of art history, cultural studies, philosophy, and art education, introducing new ideas such as self-reflexive curatorship and the exhibition as research.”

The group exhibition “580 Nanometers / Yellow” will open on Friday, November 27, at Artibition Gallery. Curated by Pegah Behrouzfar, the exhibition features a selection of works by visual artists and professional designers. The aim of this event is to explore the boundary—and the boundarylessness—between design and the visual arts. It is an interdisciplinary project that, rather than merely linking design and visual art, examines the borders between them and the moments in which those borders dissolve.

In recent years, the worlds of art and design have witnessed events that go beyond mere exhibitions, offering a profound experience and a fresh perspective on objects, spaces, and beauty. Two notable examples of this movement are Salon Art + Design in New York and FAB PARIS. These international gatherings have set new standards for both fine and applied arts, reminding us that art is not confined to the walls, and design is not solely for function—together, they form an integral part of how we experience life.

Illustration is not merely an artistic technique, a craft, or an aesthetic skill; it is directly connected to the worldview of the artist and the audience they have in mind. Illustration is undoubtedly a nonverbal expression of an idea or a text, which may include literature, news, or music. Throughout the history of modern Iranian art, outstanding works of illustration have emerged from the linkage between the word—as a representation of thought—and the image—as another form of expression.

"ArtFair, 8Fair, featuring the participation of eight Iranian galleries, has been held at AvaPlate and is ongoing. In its inaugural edition this year, the event is organized in three separate episodes. In each episode, eight galleries from across Iran have the opportunity to showcase the works of their artists, providing a platform for galleries and artists to engage more with each other as well as with enthusiasts and professionals in the field of visual arts."