Paper Works


Paper works
Group Exhibition
17 February-17 March, 2023

Paper Works
Curators: Shirin Gharavisky

Soo Contemporary presents “Paper Works”, an exhibition of books and notebooks in collaboration with Shirin Gharavisky and Shahrzad Jahan at Soo building. This exhibition comprises a selection of art books along with a number of art books, sketchbooks, and posters by various artists. In the final days of October 2022, Soo Contemporary consulted a number of artists and decided to reopen the space after being closed for a short period. The reopening marked a change in the former dynamics of the gallery, aiming to provide a space that offers new experiences. Taking part in social initiatives and offering collaborative effort, associations and institutions have always been able to overcome new conditions of life and plan for new ways of living. We aim to break the chains of despair by awakening imagination and turning it into a form of knowledge. Getting together, once again we define our world anew. The question is how can we get together and protect imagination in a society that desires renovation against oppressive forces? Through exhibition and participation, play, and company, “Paper works” presents the creative means of arts in representational conditions, highlighting the capacity of printable media and the availability of books and notebooks as instances of accessible and portable means, both for the artist and the audience. In the curatorial process of this show, the focus has been on a variety of artistic adaptations along with the conscious application of effective media by artists, both of which pave the way for a better exploration of the artists’ relations with politics and power in the current situation. Paper works were made possible by the collaboration of two independent artistic platforms with Soo Contemporary. Shirin Gharavisky also contributed to the show by presenting a collection of artists’ sketchbooks centering around the theme of artist’s autonomy in dealing with oppression in times of crisis. “Showing a collection of works by more than 20 artists, we attempted to present an alternative approach on books, sketchbooks, and posters, moving far from the usual expectations of a conventional gallery display. The unfinished nature of some of the sketchbooks reflects the continuation of our individual activities and collective cooperation. In other words, we are loyal to our bounds with the arts, research, and education, raising critical awareness about the contemporary conditions of our society and we will never stop working, producing, and creating.”

Group Exhibition: Koorosh Shishegaran, Shaghayegh Ahmadian, Aghigh Afkhami & Shahab Shah Ali, Mohammadreza Alaee, Bakhtiyari, Farhad Bina Zade, Dej Crew (Kiarash & Tamkin), Mila Fann, Ali Ghafari, Saeed Gholami, Mona HosseinZadeh, Shahrzad Jahan, Shayan Khosravi, Mahgol Mohammadi, Saba Mofarah, Zahra Mohamadzadeh, Atoosa Radmanesh, Ali Radmand, Aysa Rashid, Masa Reza, Erfan Salehi, Paniz Sohrabi, Mozhan Yaghoubi, Weishan Yang, Nima Zaare Nahandi, Ramtin Zad, Houman Nabavi (Najjar).


Shirin Gharavisky (Tehran, Iran) is the founding director of Soo Contemporary. After finishing her university studies in Industrial Engineering and working on construction projects and project management in Iran, she moved to Toronto, Canada to pursue an artistic career and study art. There she studied at the Ontario College of Art & Design University (OCAD U) and obtained a BA degree in Fine Arts. In 2017, she returned to Tehran to establish an art gallery in the Iranian capital. As so, Soo Contemporary was founded in Tehran in 2017. 

Soo’s first venue, located in the north of Tehran, served as an interim space for two years while Shirin simultaneously managed a large renovation project at the current venue of Soo Contemporary in downtown Tehran. Under her direction, Soo showcases works and projects by some of the youngest generations of Iranian artists, fresh talents, cutting-edge media, and new genres, as well as promoting its spectrum of interest in more traditional media as well as emerging and more established artists. 

Soo Contemporary has become a space for artistic expression, having hosted more than 80 exhibitions that have brought together the talents of over 230 artists. In addition to her directorial role, Shirin has served as the curator for 10 exhibitions at Soo, promoting her perspective on contemporary art. 

Continuing these efforts, in 2020, her passion for art transcended conventional spaces as she founded Soo Community, an initiative that goes beyond the confines of a physical space. Soo Community has hosted 10 site-specific projects and events that focus on the underground currents in the Iranian art scene, connecting artists with a wider audience and making possible boundless artistic expressions. 

Establishment of Soo Contemporary Art Gallery

“Soo Contemporary” is a contemporary art gallery in Tehran, Iran. While mainly focusing on showcasing the youngest generations of Iranian artists, fresh talents, cutting-edge media and new genres, Soo also seeks to promote its spectrum of interest in more traditional media as well as emerging and more established artists.

With a multifaceted program that includes smaller-scale installations, site-specific projects, larger exhibitions, and multimedia and audiovisual events, Soo caters to the discerning audience base of Tehran’s vibrant art scene. Established in 2017 by director Shirin Gharavisky, after two years of working at an interim space in the northern neighborhoods of …

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