From October 2009 through January 2010, four documentary photographers—Farhad Parsa, Arash Saedinia, Parisa Taghizadeh, and Ramin Talaie—focused their lenses on second-generation Iranian-Americans of Los Angeles, the world’s largest population of expatriate Iranians.
Fowler Museum at UCLA; Document: Iranian-Americans in Los Angeles; 6 June — 22 August, 2010; Farhad Parsa, Arash Saedinia, Parisa Taghizadeh, Ramin Talaie; http://www.fowler.ucla.edu

Townhouse Gallery of Contemporary Art
Invisible Publics
May 23 – June 20 2010
10 Nabrawy Street off Champollion Street
Downtown Cairo, Egypt

The show will feature works and acts by Dora Garcia, Sharon Hayes, Johanna Billing, Johan Svensson, Nikos Arvanitis, Sarah Pierce, Miklos Erhardt + Little Warsaw, the Complaints Choir in addition to Bidoun Video 2010 with programmes curated by Bidoun and guest curators Masoud Amralla Al Ali, Aram Moshayedi, and the duo of Özge Ersoy and Sohrab Mohebbi.
More information at Art Agenda

Rayya Badran Selected for Bidoun/Delfina New Writing Residency

Delfina Foundation and Bidoun are pleased to announce that Rayya Badran has been selected for the Bidoun/Delfina New Writing Residency, supported by the British Council.

Rayya Badran (b. 1984) is a writer based in Beirut who focuses on the performative nature of the voice as well as on characteristics of aurality and music in film and video. In recent years, her research has explored melancholy in music. Her first publication entitled Radiophonic Voice(s) was produced in the framework of Ashkal Alwan’s Homeworks 5: A forum on cultural practices in April-May 2010, Beirut. The publication engaged two radiophonic events recorded and filmed in 2006 during the Israeli war on Lebanon. Rayya will be in residence in Winter of 2011 during which time she will research how popular culture, specifically Western music, is received, lived and later theorized among different generations in the context of Beirut.

About the Bidoun/Delfina New Writing Residency

Bidoun Magazine and The Delfina Foundation, with the support of the British Council, are working in partnership to provide a unique residency opportunity in London to support new writing from Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, and the Palestinian Territories. During the residency, s/he will incubate ideas, conduct independent research, access new information, take advantage of UK cultural resources, and further his/her practice as a writer. The residency will be a platform for exploration and experimentation around the themes related to the writer’s research. Under the editorial direction of Bidoun, the resident will produce a written outcome to be published in a future issue of the magazine.

The residency will take place from mid-February to March 2011 for six weeks.

The ideal candidate will be:
— A writer, artist, curator, researcher or cultural practitioner wishing to strengthen his/her practice in writing or undertake specific research for written publication and;
— currently living and working in Lebanon, Syria, Egypt or the Palestinian Territories;
— emerging to mid-career, at least 25 years in age;
— able to demonstrate how the experience of an international residency in London may benefit their practice and career development; and available during the time period.

We welcome applications from writers who do not use English in their practice. However, the application form and additional material should be submitted in English. Applicants will also be asked to demonstrate English proficiency. The successful applicant will be provided with:
— accommodation at Delfina Foundation;
— mentoring and professional development support from Bidoun; and
— an enabling bursary / allowance of £2,250 to cover international flights, per diems for six weeks, and a basic living/materials allowance.
Demonstrable artistic quality and development potential will be key assessment criteria.

Application process

Applications are not currently being accepted. Please check back at a later date for more information.

Mona Hatoum’s first solo show in Lebanon, ‘Witness,’ at the Beirut Arts Center from June 10 – September 9, features the products of a recent five-week residency in the country: ‘Witness’ itself is a porcelain biscuit, rendered in miniature, of the Centre Ville’s Place des Martyres. ‘Worry Beads,’ scaled-up prayer beads, calls to mind the artist’s ‘The Entire World as a Foreign Land.’
Beirut Arts Center; Witness; Mona Hatoum; 10 June — 09 September, http://www.beirutartcenter.org

The town of Dinard, Bretagne, follows up the spectacle of last year’s Pinault Foundation-reliant ‘Qui a peur des artistes?’ with ‘From Giacometti to Murakami,’ a major exhibition of 50 works from leading figures including Ruscha, Serra, Boetti, Fontana, and Polke paired with works from Houshiary, Haerizadeh, Hatoum, and Moshiri. In the Palais des Arts convention centre, from 12 June – 12 September.
Palais des Arts, Dinard; From Giacometti to Murakami; various; 12 June – 12 September, http://www.festivaldufilm-dinard.com

Zoulikha Bouabdellah’s ‘Set Me Free from my Chains’ opens at Dubai gallery Isabelle van den Eynde, marked by large-scale hollow neon work(s), ‘hubb,’ in zoetropic variations. From 14 June – 15 August.
Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde, Dubai; Set Me Free from my Chains; Zoulikha Bouabdellah; 14 June – 15 August; http://www.ivde.net

The Third Line Dubai stages an exhibition,‘i.u.[heart],’ on the phenomenon of Iran-USA relations, the Iranian diaspora in the Emirates, and work made by and about them. From 23 June – 29 July.
The Third Line gallery, Dubai; i.u.[heart]; various; 23 June – 29 July; http://www.thethirdline.com

Mediamatic, Amsterdam, invites Cairene artists—including Osama Dawod & Ayman Ramadan—to relocate from Mother Egypt to the so-called Bint al-Dunya, aka Amsterdam Noord, an impoverished yet spacious neighborhood, to make work in response to radically different urban conditions. Coordinated by Nat Muller, from September 5 – December 5.
Amsterdam Noord; Bint al-Dunya; various; 05 September – 05 December; http://www.mediamatic.nl

Beirut’s The Running Horse celebrates its tenth show—'emBODYment'—with an exhibition by Rasha Shammas, of black & white nudes focused in on tattoos. A book of works will result. From 9 June – 24 July.
The Running Horse, Beirut; emBODYment; Rasha Shammas; 09 June – 24 July; http://www.therunninghorseart.com

2009 Abraaj Capital Art Prize winner Nazgol Ansarinia shows at Aun Gallery, Tehran, 28 May – 18 June.
Aun Gallery; Patterns; Nazgol Ansarinia; 28 May — 18 June, 2010; http://www.aungallery.com/

A symposium surrounding the exhibition ‘Where Three Dreams Cross - 150 Years of Photography from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh’ featuring talks and discussions with Dayanita Singh, Sunil Gupta, Bani Abidi and more.
Fotomuseum Winterthur; Where Three Dreams Cross - 150 Years of Photography from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesch; various; 12 June — 13 June, 2010; http://www.fotomuseum.ch

‘Al Qahira: Images of Cairo’, photos by Cairene artists Youssef Nabil, Susan Hefuna, Nabil Boutros, and Sabah Naim, at Rose Issa Projects, London, April 20 – May 22.
Rose Issa Projects; Al Qahira: Images of Cairo; Youssef Nabil, Susan Hefuna, Nabil Boutros and Sabah Naim; 20 April — 22 May, 2010; http://www.roseissa.com

Emre Hüner’s first European solo show looks to build on the acclaim of his Panoptikon project with ‘The New Horizon,’ at Stroom Den Haag. Curated by Övül Durmusoglu.
Stroom Den Haag; The New Horizon; Emre Hüner; 18 April — 6 June, 2010; http://www.stroom.nl

Sfeir-Semler gallery exhibiting both the delicate watercolors of Arab-American author Etel Adnan —she of Sitt Marie Rose, In the Heart of the Heart of Another Country, and Paris, When it’s Naked fame—and Tangiers-based photographer Yto Barrada’s ‘Play’ (sculpture, installation, photographs, and projections) to coincide with Homeworks V.
Galerie Sfeir-Semler; Etel Adnan and Yto Barrada; 22 April — 10 July, 2010; http://www.sfeir-semler.com

Rodeo Gallery Istanbul present an intriguing pair: Can Altay and Iman Issa. The former’s interstitial post-architectural photos, slides, and occasional texts are sure to create a fine counterpoint to Issa’s politically upfront blandishments in installation, video, and photo-still.
Rodeo Gallery; Can Altay & Iman Issa; 22 April — 26 June, 2010; http://www.rodeo-gallery.com

Noa Lidor’s ‘This dark ceiling without a star’ opens at Green Cardamom, London, marked by various site specific installations, including ‘Field (Perseus),’ flutes embedded in concrete in the shape of the Perseus constellation.
Green Cardamom; This dark ceiling without a star’; Noa Lidor; 23 April — 11 June, 2010; http://www.greencardamom.net

Hrair Sarkissian exhibits his 2009 series ‘Underground’ at Athens venue Kalfayan Gallery.
Kalfayan Gallery; Underground; 25 April — 28 June, 2010; Hrair Sarkissian; http://www.kalfayangalleries.com

LA-based Amir Zaki’s first solo show since 2007, ‘Relics,’ opens at Perry Rubenstein.
Perry Rubenstein gallery; Relics; Amir Zaki; 6 May — 25 June, 2010; http://www.perryrubenstein.com

For his first solo show at The Third Line, Abbas Akhavan presents his selective aerial and experiential mappings of Dubai in faux-gold leaf.

The Third Line; Islands; Abbas Akhavan; 5 May — 17 June, 2010; http://www.thethirdline.com