This three-day symposium explores alternative models of education and knowledge production in times of political challenges and socially critical conditions, with a particular focus on Iran. Challenging the constraints of formal education systems, the event investigates the potential of independent institutions, curatorial practices, and artistic research as critical pedagogical tools and sites of resistance. Topics include revolutionary and feminist approaches to learning; the role of collective and community-based practices in generating knowledge; the pitfalls of “presentism” in contemporary art discourse; and the current crisis of curating as both a practice and an institutional framework. Through presentations, discussions, film screening, and a book launch, the symposium brings together an international group of practitioners, scholars, artists, and educators to reflect on the potential of discursive, socially engaged, and context-responsive approaches to learning.
In this regard, Fereshte Moosavi, curator of the Tehran Curatorial Symposium, has invited practitioners, researchers, and educators to share their perspectives through talks and discussions.
The symposium will take place at Didar Art Gallery, Tehran, in collaboration with Charsoo Honar. It is possible to participate online. A participation fee is required.
To register for (online) participation, please write to: charsoohonar4@gmail.com, +98 936 40 77 388 (via WhatsApp), or @charsoohonar4 (Telegram).
mohit.art is delighted to live stream a selection of the program:
10:00-11:00 (IRST), 7:30-8:30 (BST), 8:30-9:30 (CEST)
Making Curating Think: Theories in Action, Practices in Dialogue
Fereshte Moosavi, Independent curator, writer, and educator
in Farsi | به فارسی
Watch the free live stream below:
11:00-12:00 (IRST), 8:30-9:30 (BST), 9:30-10:30 (CEST)
The Fallacy of Presentism: A Critical Inquiry into the Interpretation and Pedagogy of Art
Mehdi Ansari, founder and director of Shamseh Academy, Tehran
in Farsi | به فارسی
14:00-16:00 (IRST)
The Art of Living in Danger, documentary, 2020, 87 min.
Film screening followed by Q&A with director Mina Keshavarz
in Farsi | به فارسی
16:00-17:00 (IRST), 13:30-14:30 (BST), 14:30-15:30 (CEST)
Learning, Art, and Critical Consciousness in the Process of Revolutionary Change
Shahrzad Mojab, professor emerita, Department of Leadership, Higher and Adult Education, and The Women and Gender Studies Institute, University of Toronto
in Farsi | به فارسی
18:00-20:00 (IRST)
Book Launch
The Curatorial, in Other Words, First Volume: Context, Theoretical Expansions and Concerns, Charsoo Honar Publishing, 2025.
Followed by a conversation between Fereshte Moosavi (editor), Saeed Ravanbakhsh (Charsoo Publishing), and Elham Puriya Mehr (curator and lecturer).
in Farsi | به فارسی
11:00–12:00 (IRST), 8:30-9:30 (BST), 9:30-10:30 (CEST)
Social Spaces as an Atmosphere of Knowledge Making
Elham Puriya Mehr, curator and lecturer
in Farsi | به فارسی
14:00-15:00 (IRST), 11:30-12:30 (BST), 12:30-13:30 (CEST)
Commoning Epistemologies
Viviana Checchia, director of Void Art Centre, Derry, and co-cirector of Vessel, Puglia
in English
Watch the free live stream below:
15:30-16:30 (IRST), 13:00-14:00 (BST), 14:00-15:00 (CEST)
mohit.art: Navigating the Transcultural Space
Hannah Jacobi, art historian, author, and curator, co-director of mohit.art
in English
Watch the free live stream below:
11:00-12:30 (IRST), 8:30-10:00 (BST), 9:30-11:00 (CEST)
Discursive Knowledge
Helmut Draxler, art historian, curator, and professor of Art Theory at Merz Academy, Stuttgart, in conversation with Fereshte Moosavi
in English
Watch the free live stream below: