On the 30th of September, Jameel Arts Centre will host a talk by Aria Kasaei, an art director and one of the founders of Studiokargah, an independent graphic design studio in Tehran, Iran. Kasaei will talk about the studio’s work across design, publishing, and curating. The other subjects to discuss at the event are various approaches to bilingual design and the relationship of design research to public and city spaces. Kasaei will also highlight how important it is to engage with histories of design and visual culture from the region.
Studiokargah was founded in 2001 by Kasaei and graphic designer Peyman Pourhosein. It is based on three concepts: Home, Laboratory, and Factory, focusing on original ideas, research, design, and implementation. The studio believes that a contemporary visual language can be created using the capacities of art history, literature, and the diverse urban culture of modern-day Iran and the region.
Working with cultural institutes and art galleries both in Iran and around the world, in 2014, Studiokargah started Archival Projects to collect, classify, and curate documents and art pieces of Iran’s visual arts, culture, and graphic design history. The projects featured exhibitions, discussion panels, and a publication for each project. Among the studio’s latest projects are, for example, Red Paper; Ideological Publications Issued by the Soviet Union (2020) created in collaboration with Nabshi Center (Tehran) and Plakart; On Iranian Cinema Marquee Posters (2018) in partnership with Ali Bakhtiari (Salam Art Gallery, Tehran).

A Project by StudioKargah and Nabshi Center. Curated by Peyman Pourhosein.
About the speaker
Aria Kasaei (b. 1980, Tehran) is a graphic designer, archivist, and lecturer in the history of Graphic Design, who lives and works between Paris and Tehran. As an archivist, he has worked with the Iranian Museum of Graphic Design; the Museum of Modern Art and Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris, France; Museo MAXXI in Rome, Italy; and TATE Modern in London. Kasaei has organised and participated in organising an exhibition dedicated to Assyrian-Iranian visual artist Ashurbanipal Babilla’s art; a show devoted to Iranian contemporary artist Fereydoun Ave; and the Theatre Workshop and Karnameh Exhibition as part of Studiokargah Projects. Kasaei has also been a curator of such graphic design exhibitions as Azad Art Gallery’s Graphic Design Project (Tehran, 2009) and Posters from Iran (Copenhagen, Denmark, 2011).
Taking place in Sahaab, the talk will start at 4:30 PM and end at 6:00 PM. To learn more about the event and register, please visit its official web page.
You might also be interested in visiting In the Heart of Another Country at SAF.
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