UMPS
Exhibition dates
Upcoming Gallery Call for Artists (Oxford/Manchester July 2022)
Application closed
Our Agenda
Women in Society: A Middle Eastern Perspective
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This will be an exhibition devoted to the works of Middle Eastern artists. They will present different works that relate to the role of women in the Middle East. The relationship between Europe and the Middle East is a complicated one. Both regions have heavily influenced each other through philosophy, religion, politics, and war. Their histories are intertwined. But historically, this exchange was always precipitated by men. Apart from orientalist fantasies of European painters, women were barely mentioned. Today, this has changed. In the West, there is a large number of political narratives that specifically rely on the image of the middle eastern woman. These stories are often used to argue for a specific political worldview. Sometimes, Middle Eastern women are portrayed as victims of foreign military intervention. According to such a narrative, Western countries such as the US are accused of having destroyed the supposedly peaceful life that those women have so far led. The threat to Middle Eastern women is thereby construed as purely external. Honor killings and patriarchal discrimination are equally ignored. On the other hand, there is a counter-narrative. Its adherents justify Western military intervention by portraying women as victims of sexist discrimination, religious fundamentalism, and societal backwardness. In order to liberate women from the grip of those terrors, it is supposedly necessary to wage war. Both of these narratives view Middle Eastern women from a perspective that is dependent on the political discourses of Western countries. But to understand the real situation of women in the Middle East, we have to take Middle Eastern perspectives into account. This exhibition is doing precisely that. It will display different works from Middle Eastern artists. It will feature art that illuminates the social position of women from a perspective that is so often absent in contemporary debates.
Bloom's art project focuses on creating positive vision, hope & unity through The
Visual, Auditory & Performing Arts
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Budding Art Academy was founded with great ambitions and plans in mind. The aim of the academy was to discover artists from countries in which artists are deprived of praise and the possibility of getting known for their talents. Persian-speaking countries were targeted for this purpose inviting any keen and challenge-seeking artist from all walks of life. They were then encouraged to explore their hidden and unknown talents and introduce them further afield. The academy then launched its very first competition and in a very short time, it was able to attract a large number of artists to this pioneering project. Around 300 artists took part. For the duration of five intensive months with some Afghan, Iranian and Tajik volunteers.
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One of the special projects of the academy was to encourage artists with special needs and mental disabilities to take part. This also proved very successful and with the support of their families and the assistance of their teachers, 4 were selected. Then in September 2021 in Tehran / Iran, Budding Art Academy held its début festival and exhibition on visual arts based on the concept of composition and aesthetics. As well as the 4 extraordinary artists, successfully 30 finalists were selected, and out of these 11 were chosen as the winners of the first competition.
Project's People | Collaborators
Minoo Habibi
Management of Administrative and Informatics Affairs
Karim Tanweer
Project Director
Peymaneh Asgary
Vice - director and Advisor
Bita Alimehr
Director of Public Relations
Neda Yadegar
Afsoon Ararooti
Sara Rasouli
Independent Curator
Resources & Development
Public Relations Assistant
Mehrsa Jafarpour
President of Persian society at the University of Oxford