| With the international success of the works of some renowned Iranian artists - such as Shirin Neshat - at the latest, a certain image of their work has formed that helps to shape people?s expectations on modern Iranian art. Taking the FAR NEAR DISTANCE exhibition as an example, artists, curators and experts will discuss the way exhibition practice as well as artistic and curatorial strategies create a specific perception of Iran and of Iranian art. Hence, one focal point of this panel will be to examine the ?representation of Iran?, that is: how is Iran represented and by whom? What role does it play that this exhibition is being shown at the House of World Cultures? The House of World Cultures is itself an immaterial frame with its history and structure, and with its specific perception within the context of Berlin and Germany. What effect does the relationship between art and economics have on the presentation of Iranian art? What scope do artists have and use? SPEAKERS: Negar Azimi lives and works in Cairo as a journalist and exhibition assistant for the Townhouse Gallery for Contemporary Art. She has written countless contributions on contemporary art and culture in Egypt and on social issues. Rose Issa is an independent curator, producer and writer specialising in visual arts and films from the Middle East and North Africa. For the last 20 years she has been curating film festivals and exhibitions on contemporary arts from the Arab world and from Iran in collaboration with private and public institutions. Rose Issa is curator of both the exhibtion and the film programme of FAR NEAR DISTANCE at the House of World Cultures. Shaheen Merali is Director of the Department of Fine Art, Film and New Media at the House of World Cultures. In 1988, Shaheen Merali co-founded the Panchayat Arts Education Resource Unit in London, one of the most comprehensive art archives in Europe. It focuses on extra-European artists and cultural producers. During the past few years, the artist and curator has mostly lived in London, where he has done research and taught at the Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design and at the University of Westminster. Farhad Moshiri: his work has mainly concentrated on painting and video art, using both of these media as a means to give voice to his critical and astute observations on present-day culture in Iran. He tackles themes ranging from Iranian urban everyday reality to the culture of consumerism and architecture in the post-revolutionary period. Farhad Moshiri lives and works in Tehran. Shirana Shahbazi studied art and photography from 1995 to 2000 at the FH Dortmund and the Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst in Zurich, where she is currently living.
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