Artist Talk | Persbook 2017
7th Annual of Contemporary Art | Artist Talk | 6 December – 17:00-20:00 | Secretary of panels: Alireza Arvahi
First Panel: Drawing | 17:00-18:00 | Morteza Basravi
Second Panel: Ecological Art | 18:00-19:00| Mahmoud Maktabi with Mehdi Vafamehr
Third Panel: Performance Art | 19:00-20:00 | Tara Goodarzy
Bayaan Gallery | No.61, North Esteghlal St, Mardavij, Isfahan, Iran | +98 31 36702633
About 7th Annual of Contemporary Art | Persbook 2017:
Organized and directed by Neda Darzi and Pamela Karimi
The project aims to explore ecological and sustainable design in arid regions. In particular, it focuses on the form and function of the pigeon towers .Traditionally, in central Iran pigeons were domesticated for their droppings, which the farmers accumulated and used to mature certain crops. The checkerboard pattern of pigeonholes made efficient use of the space and kept the usage of brick to the minimum. Functioning like a fortresses with small thresholds, the towers also helped protect the pigeons from predators.
Replaced by industrial fertilizers and chemicals, the pigeon towers have remained largely abandoned. At some point the number of pigeon towers in the greater Isfahan was estimated 3,000. Today, only 300 remain, with only a few dozen acknowledged by Iran’s National Heritage Organization. Many of the remaining structures are wasting away in the desert, including those from the Dorche village. Persbook 7 hopes to direct our attention to these phenomenal structures and the logic of sustainable design in the deserts of pre-modern Iran.
