The Forum at CAM
Summer 2009
The Forum at CAM highlights the synthesis of the visual arts and other creative forms to foster critical thinking about today’s world. Artist and curator talks, panel discussions, film screenings, performances, and other activities contextualize the exhibitions on view and provide an opportunity for deeper exploration of their themes. Presenting these programs to the public is an integral part of Chelsea Art Museum’s mission to encourage cross-cultural dialogue and promote respect for the world at large through the arts.
Exhibition Tours
Every Saturday at 3pm
Join us every Saturday for
free guided tour with regular museum admission.
Guided tours for Iran Inside Out start July 4th.
IRAN INSIDE OUT Public Programs
1. Dance
Contemporary ballet performance by Cedar Lake with live music performed by Reza Derakshani
Photo courtesy of Erez Sabag
Open Rehearsal: August 27 6 – 8pm
Performances: September 1, 2, 3 at 7:30pm
Tickets: $25 general admission, $20 students / seniors, $15 CAM members
A spectacular contemporary ballet performance by Cedar Lake based on Iran Inside Out. Artistic Director Benoit-Swan Pouffer creates a new performance experience interpreting the artworks exhibited in Iran Inside Out. Using the visual artworks as points of inspiration, the collaboration will incorporate movement, art and live music by Iranian visual and performance artist Reza Derakshani, whose paintings are also included in the Iran Inside Out exhibition. Cedar Lake is a contemporary ballet company dedicated to the development of dance by providing choreographers a comprehensive environment for creation.
2. Panel discussion
Tuesday, July 14 at 7pm
Free with museum admission
In collaboration with the Persian Arts Festival, Chelsea Art Museum is proud to present a panel discussion to contextualize its groundbreaking exhibition, Iran Inside Out. The panel will be comprised of artists that are being featured within Iran Inside Out, as well as the exhibition’s curator.
Panelists:
• Livia Alexander – Executive Director of ArteEast (moderator)
• Sam Bardaouil – curator, Iran Inside Out
• Samira Abbassy – Featured artist
• Pooneh Maghazehe – Featured artist
• Darius Yektai – Featured artist
Attendees of the exhibition’s opening reception were also encouraged to submit questions, some of which may be addressed by the panel. The panel’s questions and answers will be transcribed and available for further commentary online on www.persianartsfestival.org blog. The discussion will be followed at 9pm by a performance by Hypernova, an indie-rock band from Tehran.
3. Iran Inside Out Film Series
Chelsea Art Museum is proud to present the Iran Inside Out Film Series in collaboration with Rooftop Films and ArteEast. This film series will present brilliant feature and short films as well as documentaries by well-established and emerging Iranian directors that are designed to compliment CAM’s ground-breaking exhibition, Iran Inside Out. All screenings will start at 9 pm and will take place within the museum's magnificent gallery space.
The opening will feature a performance by the band Electric Black at 8 pm
Tickets: $15 general admission / $10 students and seniors / CAM Members free
Click here to buy tickets.
Program:
July 15
My City, Pizza (2008)
Length: 26 mins
Director: Ala Mohseni
Synopsis: This light-hearted, amusing, fast-paced documentary about eating habits in modern Tehran offers a kaleidoscopic view of Iranian society. We see young people, old people, progressive and conservative Iranians who all reveal their identity by telling us what they think of Italian fast food in the capital.
Tehran TV Disoriented (2003)
Length: 21 mins
Directors: Farhad Moshiri and Shirin Aliabadi
Synopsis: In this short piece, the directors reedit scenes from Iranian soap operas to show the influence that these seemingly innocent mediums have on Iranian society.
July 22
Sex My Life (Khastegi) (2008)
Length: 76 mins
Director: Bahman Motamedian
Synopsis: Sex My Life is the story of seven Tehran transsexuals who live pieces of their own lives on the screen. Blurring the lines of documentary and fiction, director Motamedian evocatively explores their journey in finding their true identity and manages to avoid the obvious trap of sensationalism and victimization.
July 29
Best in the West (2006)
Length: 71 mins
Director: Maryam Kashani
Synopsis: Director Kashani’s first-person documentary focuses on her father and his close-knit group of male friends who maintained their tight bonds after emigrating from Iran to San Francisco in the 1960s and ’70s. Their personal stories are interwoven with a political and industrial history of Iran and the struggle to control the country’s most coveted natural resource: oil.
August 5
The Lizard (2004)
Length: 115 mins
Director: Kamal Tabrizi
Synopsis: Reza is a petty thief who escapes jail by posing as a mullah. When he has to stay in disguise longer than he expected, he accidentally becomes the revered leader of a small-town mosque.
August 12
Glass House (2009)
Length: 92 mins
Director: Hamid Rahmanian
Synopsis: This ground-breaking documentary follows four girls striving to pull themselves out of the margins by attending a one-of-kind rehabilitation center in uptown Tehran. The girls of The Glass House take us on a never-before-seen tour of the underclass of Iran with their brave and defiant stories.
August 19
The Queen and I (2008)
Length: 90 mins
Director and Producer: Nahid Persson Sarvestani
Synopsis: When Nahid Persson Sarvestani, an Iranian exile, sets out to make a documentary about Farrah, the wife of the shah of Iran, she plans to challenge the shah’s ideology. Instead, she must rethink her own.
4. Music Performances
Performance by renowned vocalist, composer and visual artist, Sussan Deyhim
July 30th, 2009 at 9:00pm on CAM’s newly inaugurated roof deck
Tickets: $45 general admission, $35 students/seniors, $25 CAM members
VIP Tickets: $75 general admission, $65 students/seniors, $55 CAM members
VIP tickets include a reception with the artist following the performance.
Photo courtesy of Virgo Paraiso
Sussan Deyhim is a composer, vocalist and performance artist who has been at the forefront of experimental music internationally for over three decades. Incorporating the ancient mystical music of the Middle East, with the wizardry of modern technology, Deyhim creates a deeply moving fusion of East and West. Her personal and poetic, sonic signature is imbued with a sense of ritual and the unknown. The New York Times notes that her "thrilling music...sounds in the ear long after you've left the show."
Performance made possible with the generous support of Bijan and Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani
5. Guided Tours
Every Saturday at 3:00pm, beginning July 4
Curator/Docent led tours. Additional tours can be scheduled upon prior request.
Unless otherwise noted, all public programs are free with museum admission.
Contact: programs@chelseaartmuseum.org, 212.255.0719 ext 112
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