Digital Art from and about Tehran, Kabul, Damascus, Istanbul and Amman.

The exhibition features contemporary artists whose works reflect the under explored urban spaces of the ideological Middle East. This collection of contemporary art is aiming to illustrates the complexities of each urban setting and to illuminate the technological, social and cultural networks within and between the cities. Surpassing the conventional narratives and imagery, we are going to mine for the personal and particular.

The organizers of this show hope to explore and expand the vision of these cities, their artists and their artistic production. The identity of each city – with its contradictions, myths, and reality – is to be explored by artists residing in each urban setting, allowing individuals to create narratives about the rhythms and patterns of their own surroundings. Through these art works, we hope to re-evaluate the multiple identities of these urban spaces.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Although the art of the (ideological) Middle East is varied and multi-faceted in its production, much of its exhibition and discussion in Europe and North America has concentrated on its traditional outputs, such as minimalist painting in Pakistan, traditional handicrafts from Afghanistan and the calligraphy of Syria. This focus ignores the work of contemporary artists living in this geographical region and working in various other medias, thereby retaining the focus and dominance of Euro-American new media production in the ‘international’ art world.

The planned exhibit Pixels and Traffic Jams aims to showcase a different side of the art scene of select five cities: Tehran, Kabul, Damascus, Istanbul and Amman, each chosen for its vitality, political importance, cultural significance and under explored artistic landscape. The focus of the exhibit will be on new media artists concerned with the complexity and vibrancy of each urban setting. The work can be produced through various new media technologies including video, computer, internet, wireless phones, digital photo cameras, hand-held computers or can be in any other medium but must be presented in a digital format. A focus on new media offers an opportunity to explore and exhibit innovative works in a contemporary medium.

The works chosen for this exhibit are to challenge and re-imagine our understanding of each city’s urban space. We believe that, like all cities worldwide, cities in the ideological Middle East have various social dimensions and allow for the contemporaneous co-existence of many different communities. We know that space is ever-changing, and the aim of the chosen works should be to capture the living/dynamic/fluid image of the space. Some questions that can be explored:

- What are the various layers and networks of the cityscape?
- How does ethnicity, gender, religion inform your experience of urban space?
- What various dimensions inform the perceived dichotomy of archaic vs. contemporary, private vs. public?

The exhibit Pixels and Traffic Jams seeks to reinvigorate and re-imagine the spatiality of each metropolis from the standpoint of artists living in these cities.

NEW MEDIA ARTISTS PRESENTING WORK IN DIGITAL FORM:

New media artists: artists that use multimedia, computers or communications technologies in creative expression.

Digital Art: is the creative combination of art and technology. Digital artists are dependent upon the use of digital technologies in the production of their work. Some artists work exclusively in the digital realm while others integrate digital elements into 'traditional' work.

SUBMISSION DEADLINE IS SEPTEMBER 2009

Please send a proposal and/or examples of your work
with a brief bio by mail or email.

Email:
pixelsandtrafficjams@gmail.com

Mail:
Aisha Jamal, Andreea Muscurel and Behrouz Hariri
237 Montrose Avenue
Toronto, ON
M6G 3G6
Canada

This exhibit is curated as a collaborative project between independent creative producer Andreea Muscurel, filmmaker Aisha Jamal and graphic designer and artist Behrouz Hariri.