History, heritage, and the site-specific in contemporary Iranian art

ABSTRACT

Emerging in the context of American and European art during the 1960s, the term ‘site-specific’ has been employed to characterize art projects created with a specific location in mind. This departure from traditional artistic expressions within galleries and museums primarily focused on formal considerations, often divorced from the socio-political context of the site. In Iran, where site-specific art has flourished for nearly as long as in America, the concept of ‘site’ is deeply intertwined with history and heritage. Here, while formal aspects remain relevant, the shape and meaning of art are primarily shaped by the historical significance of the site. By primarily examining the work of Tehran-based artist Pooya Aryanpour, this article explores how Iranian site-specific artists have expanded the boundaries of art by establishing a dialogue between art objects and the rich history and cultural significance of specific sites. This practice has enabled Iranian artists to transcend the constraints of governmental institutions. Above all, site specificity empowers Iranian artists to facilitate intimate dialogues between art objects, history, heritage, and the people for whom heritage and cultural identity matter, further enriching the connection between art and history.

KEYWORDS:

• Site specific
• history
• Pooya Aryanpour
• Iannis Xenakis
• Michel Foucault
• contemporary Iranian art

Disclosure statement

Some case studies mentioned at the beginning of this article were originally addressed in the author’s book, Alternative Iran: Contemporary Art and Critical Spatial Practice (Stanford University Press, 2022)

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Pamela Karimi

Pamela Karimi received her PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2009 and is currently a professor at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Karimi is the author of Domesticity and Consumer Culture in Iran (Routledge, 2013) and Alternative Iran: Contemporary Art and Critical Spatial Practice (Stanford, 2022). She is the co-editor of The Destruction of Cultural Heritage in the Middle East: From Napoleon to ISIS, a collection of important essays published at the peak of ISIS attacks on cultural heritage. Karimi has held fellowships from many organizations, including the College Art Association, the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts and Iran Heritage Foundation at SOAS. More recently Karimi was the co-recipient of a major grant from the Connecting Art Histories Initiative at the Getty Foundation. Co-founder of Aggregate Architectural History Collaborative, Karimi currently serves on the boards of Thresholds Journal and the Association of Modern and Contemporary Art of the Arab World, Iran, and Turkey.