طراوت | TARAVAT Open House Reception

Public Programs

طراوت | TARAVAT Open House Reception

May 13, 2023, 2–6 PM

Join us for an open house featuring music, poetry, and conversation with Iranian-American interdisciplinary artist Taravat Talepasand to celebrate the opening of the new exhibition طراوت | TARAVAT. Enjoy a poetry reading by writer Shabnam Piryaei and A Cup of Tea interactive performance by artist Badri Valian, before Talepasand leads a tour of the exhibition at 4pm. Engage with artist Sholeh Asgary’s Audio Archive Booth to record stories, reflections, experiences, hopes, dreams, pasts, and futures of the Iranian diaspora. Visit YBCA’s Grand Lobby to add your voice to the archive. Light bites and chai tea from Komaaj catering will be offered in celebration of Mother’s Day, along with a cash bar. Stop by anytime to experience the artwork, meet the artist, and connect with community.

Talepasand’s new exhibition طراوت | TARAVAT grapples with the difficult legacy of women’s freedoms and Muslim identity. Featuring a dynamic mix of paintings, drawings, collage, video, and neon sculpture, the exhibition references the visual conventions of Pop art, propaganda, and appropriations.

Check back soon for more public programming that highlights the voices, struggles, and personal stories of artists in the Bay Area—and across the globe—who are carrying the torch of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement.

Schedule

2:30 PM – Poetry Reading

Shabnam Piryaei

Shabnam Piryaei will be reading from her newest poetry collection all children. She will also be gifting poetry activity books to the audience in hopes that they serve as a portal to the child in each of us, and to the interdependence of our mutual survival.

3 PM – Interactive Performance of A Cup of Tea

Badri Valian

Badri Valian’s A Cup of Tea is an installation of collective objects gathered together in a tea tray, which depict visual symbols of the tea tradition in Iran, as well as showcasing portraits of those who fought for freedom and lost their lives since the beginning of the Iran revolution in September 2022. In this participatory and social practice project, Valian invites the audience to interact with the elements and portraits embedded in the trays while she recites poetry inspired by free and happy moments Iranian families connect around over tea. Valian’s goal is to focus global awareness on the ongoing struggle in Iran, and to cultivate hope by reminiscing about nostalgic memories from those who had to leave their home country to escape the brutality of totalitarianism.

4 PM – Artist-led Tour

Taravat Talepasand

Artist Taravat Talepasand will lead a tour of the exhibition طراوت | TARAVAT, a record of one Iranian-American woman’s attempts to grapple with the difficult legacy of women’s freedoms and Muslim identity—to transform it visually, to make something both beautiful and uncomfortable.

Ongoing – Audio Archive Booth

Sholeh Asgary

Engage with artist Sholeh Asgary’s Audio Archive Booth to record stories, reflections, experiences, hopes, dreams, pasts, and futures of the Iranian diaspora. Asgary shares: “The experience of diaspora is a series of coverings and uncoverings—much like memory, and this moment is uncovering much.” Visit YBCA’s Grand Lobby to add your voice to the archive.

Ongoing – Risograph Protest Poster Giveaways

Bijan Berahimi, Tannaz Farsi, Mina M. Jafari, and Hushidar Mortezaie

Complimentary risograph protest posters will be offered to طراوت | TARAVAT exhibition visitors at YBCA through July 23. Created by artists Bijan Berahimi, Tannaz Farsi, Mina M. Jafari, and Hushidar Mortezaie, the posters seek to amplify the creative and community voices of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement.

Taravat Talepasand

Shabnam Piryaei

Badri Valian

Sholeh Asgary

Writer Shabnam Piryaei performs at the Open House Reception for طراوت | TARAVAT, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 2023. Courtesy Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Photos by Pamela Gentile.

Artists perform in the interactive performance of A Cup of Team by artist Badri Valian at the Open House Reception for طراوت | TARAVAT, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 2023. Courtesy Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Photos by Pamela Gentile.

At the Open House Reception for طراوت | TARAVAT, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 2023. Courtesy Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Photos by Pamela Gentile.

Artist Taravat Talepasand leads a tour at the Open House Reception for طراوت | TARAVAT, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 2023. Courtesy Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Photos by Pamela Gentile.

At the Open House Reception for طراوت | TARAVAT, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 2023. Courtesy Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Photos by Pamela Gentile.

Artist Taravat Talepasand leads a tour at the Open House Reception for طراوت | TARAVAT, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 2023. Courtesy Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Photos by Pamela Gentile.

At the Open House Reception for طراوت | TARAVAT, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 2023. Courtesy Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Photos by Pamela Gentile.

Artist Taravat Talepasand at the Open House Reception for طراوت | TARAVAT, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 2023. Courtesy Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Photos by Pamela Gentile.

Exhibition

طراوت | TARAVAT

A record of one Iranian-American woman’s attempts to grapple with the difficult legacy of women’s freedoms and Muslim identity—to transform it visually, to make something both beautiful and uncomfortable.

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طراوت | TARAVAT was originally on view at the Law Warschaw Gallery at Macalester College from January 7–March 10, 2023 and was organized by Jehra Patrick and Heather Everhart.

Its presentation at YBCA is organized by Martin Strickland, Director of Curatorial Projects and Public Experience, with additional programming organized by Amy Kisch, Head of Art + Public Programming.

YBCA Programs are made possible in part by MacKenzie Scott and Dan Jewett, California Arts Council, #StartSmall, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Tambourine, the San Francisco Arts Commission, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Marilyn Conrad Trust, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, William G. Irwin Charity Foundation, Kenneth Rainin Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Walter & Elise Haas Fund, The Bernard Osher Foundation, In memory of Kevin King,The Sato Foundation, New England Foundation for the Arts, Gaia Fund, and YBCA Members.

Generous support provided by Blue Shield of California. Blue Shield of California is an independent member of the Blue Shield Association.

YBCA is grateful to the City of San Francisco for its ongoing support.