Art exhibit inspired by “ABC Africa” to memorialize Abbas Kiarostami

TEHRAN –(Iranart) Iranian film master Abbas Kiarostami will be memorialized in an art exhibition inspired by “ABC Africa”, his 2001 documentary about the ravages of AIDS and civil war in Uganda.

Tehran’s Daargoun Gallery will organize the exhibit titled “The Other Side of the Window” from Kiarostami’s birthday on June 22 to his death anniversary on July 5, the director of the gallery, Arash Raisian, said in a press release on Sunday.

Forty-three artists have created 43 tableaus exclusively for the event. Among the artists are Marjan Sabeti, Taraneh Sadeqian, Milad Azizi, Reza Hedayat, Elham Yazdanian, Ahmad Moradi, Soheil Hashemi, Mohammadreza Abbasi and Mina Ghaffari.

“Paying tribute to Mr. Kiarostami is a topic of concern to me,” he stated and added, “I insist on organizing an art event every year in memory of him.”

“Each organized event should turn its spotlight on a certain social concern,” he noted and said that the exhibition is intended to raise awareness about AIDS in line with what Kiarostami pursued in his “ABC Africa”.

A portion of the funds that will be raised by the exhibition is scheduled to be granted to the Alborz Society of Health Advocate (ASHA), an Iranian NGO that provides various services for children with HIV.  
 
Groups of such children will visit the exhibition and prominent storyteller Mahtab Shahidi will narrate stories for the children.

In addition, during the exhibition, children’s book writer Mostafa Rahmandoost will hold poetry sessions and children’s art teacher Jamaleddin Ekrami and painter Samira Darya are scheduled to hold theatrical performances.