In a 2000 square meter old storage for marine engines are works by Iranian Farhad Ahrarnia, but also Iraqis Adel Abidin and Wafaa Bilal, and the Indians Hema Upadhyay and Riyas Komu on display. These are some of the forty-nine artists invited to interpret The Great Game, the exhibition project of the Iran Pavilion, curated by Marco Meneguzzo and Mazdak Faiznia for the 56th Venice Biennale.

“The Great Game” is followed by the Iranian Highlights exhibit with works by Samira Alikhanzaradeh, Mahmoud Bakhshi Moakhar, Jamshid Bayrami and Mohammed Ehsai.

The Great Game is an expression used to indicate the strategic rivalry and conflict between the British Empire and the Russian Empire for supremacy in Central Asia. The path evoking this expression provides a look at authors from India to Iran and Azerbaijan, testifying to the existence of a cultural flow and creating a shared, universal language.

The 56th Venice Biennale “All the World’s Futures”, curated by Okwui Enwezor, runs from May 9th to November 22nd, 2015.

Artists in Iran’s pavilion
Iranian Highlights
Samira Alikhanzaradeh, Mahmoud Bakhshi Moakhar, Jamshid Bayrami, Mohammed Ehsai

The Great Game
Lida Abdul, Bani Abidi, Adel Abidin, Amin Agheai, Ghodratollah Agheli, Shahriar Ahmadi, Parastou Ahovan, Farhad Ahrarnia, Rashad Alakbarov, Furat al Jamil, Nazgol Ansarinia, Reza Aramesh, Alireza Astaneh, Sonia Balassanian, Mahmoud Bakhshi Moakhar, Wafaa Bilal, Mehdi Farhadian, Shadi Ghadirian, Shilpa Gupta, Ghasem Hajizadeh, Shamsia Hassani, Sahand Hesamiyan, Sitara Ibrahimova, Pouran Jinchi, Amar Kanwar, Babak Kazemi, Ryas Komu, Farideh Lashai, Farokh Mahdavi, Ahmad Morshedloo, Mehrdad Mohebali, Huma Mulji, Azad Nanakeli, Jamal Penjweny, Imran Qureshi, Sara Rahbar, Rashid Rana, Atefeh Samaei, T.V. Santhosh, Walid Siti, Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, Mohsen Taasha Wahidi, Mitra Tabrizian, Parviz Tanavoli, Newsha Tavakolian, Sadegh Tirafkan, Hema Upadhyay, Saira Wasim

Related information:
The Guardian | Iran goes back to the future at Venice Biennale
Sothebys | Highlights From The Venice Biennale’s Iran Pavilion

Sources: La Biennale di Venezia | National participations, Artribune | Il padiglione dell’Iran raccontato da Marco Meneguzzo (Italian), Facebook | Iranian Pavilion – La Biennale di Venezia 2015 | Photos, ISNA | News photo