Dr Hamid Keshmirshekan

Hamid Keshmirshekan is an art historian, critic and Senior Teaching Fellow at the Department of History of Art and Archaeology, School of Arts, SOAS. He was previously Senior Lecturer at the Advanced Research Institute of Art (ARIA), Iranian Academy of Arts (2013-17) and Associate Fellow at the KRC, Faculty of Oriental Studies and History of Art Department at Oxford University (2004-12). His interests are twentieth and twentieth-first century art from the Middle East, with particular attention to the recent developments in art practice and its relation to the context. Dr Keshmirshekan has taught art history and criticism in British and Iranian universities and has organised several international conferences and events on aspects of modern and contemporary art from Iran and the Middle East, and has contributed extensively to various publications. His latest publications include Contemporary Visual and Performing Arts: An Anthology of Hamid Dabashi's Essays, edited with an Introduction by Hamid Keshmirshekan (2019), ‘Standardisation and the Question of Identity: On the Dominant Discourses on Contemporary Middle Eastern Art’ (2015), Contemporary Art from the Middle East: Regional Interactions with Global Art Discourses (ed.) (2015), Hunar-i mu’asir-i iran, risheh-ha va nazar-gah-hay-i nuvin (2015), ‘Reclaiming Cultural Space: Artist’s Performativity versus State’s Expectations in Contemporary Iran’ (2013).

Publications

Books

Authored Books:

• Kankashi dar Hunar-i mu’asir-i iran (An Introduction into Contemporary Iranian Art), 2nd edition (Tehran: Nazar Publication, 2017).
• Dar-amadi bar nazariyyeh va andisheh-i intiqadi dar tarikh-i hunar (An Introduction to Theory and Critical Thinking in Art History) (peer reviewed) (Tehran: Cheshmeh Publication, 2017).
• Hunar-i mu’asir-i iran, risheh-ha va nazar-gah-hay-i nuvin (Contemporary Iranian Art, Roots and New Perspectives), (Nazar Publication, Tehran: 2015).
• Contemporary Iranian Art: New Perspectives (peer reviewed) (London: Saqi Books, 2013).

Edited:

• Contemporary Visual and Performing Arts: An Anthology of Hamid Dabashi's Essays, edited with an Introduction by Hamid Keshmirshekan (peer reviewed) (London, New York: Anthem Press, 2019).
• Koorosh Shishegaran: The Art of Altruism (London: Saqi Books, 2017).
• Contemporary Art from the Middle East: Regional Interactions with Global Art Discourses (peer reviewed) (London, New York: I.B.Tauris, 2015).
• Amidst Shadow and Light: Contemporary Iranian Art and Artists (Liaoning Creative Press, Hong Kong: 2011).
• Essays on Curating Contemporary Art (Iranian Art Exhibitions) (Markaz Publication, Tehran: 2011), (English-Persian).
• Theory, Methodology and History of Art (Tehran: Iranian Academy of Arts Press, 2010) (Persian).
• Parviz Tanavoli’s Small-Scale Sculptures (Tehran: Bon-gah Publication, 2008) (English-Persian).

Articles and Book Chapters

Peer reviewed:

• “Humorous Art Practices in the Contemporary Middle East: Reacting to Cultural Stereotyping”, in Humor, Globalization, and Culture-specificity in Contemporary Art, eds. Mette Gieskes and Anneke Schulenberg (New Jersey: Wiley Blackwell) (forthcoming in 2019-20).
• “Parameters of ‘Modern’ and ‘Contemporary’ Art from the Middle East: An Alternative Art Historical Account,” in Global Art History, eds. Julia Allerstorfer, and Monika Leisch-Kiesl (Bielefeld: transcript, 2017).
• “Neo-Traditionalismus im Diskurs. Die Saqqakhaneh-Bewegung und ihr Revival in den 1990er Jahren”, in The Tehran Modern, A Reader about Art in Iran since 1960 (Berlin: Neue Nationalgalerie, 2017).
• “Standardisation and the Question of Identity: On the Dominant Discourses on Contemporary Iranian Art,” Kimia-ye-Honar Quarterly, The Advanced Research Institute of Arts, Iranian Academy of Arts, no. 11 (2015): 110-127.
•   “The Crisis of Belonging: On the Politics of Art Practice in Contemporary Iran”, in Contemporary Art from the Middle East: Regional and Global Dialogue, ed. Hamid Keshmirshekan (London, New York: I.B. Tauris, 2015).
• “Reclaiming Cultural Space: Artist’s Performativity versus State’s Expectations in Contemporary Iran,” in Performing the Iranian State: Cultural Representations of Identity and Nation, ed. Staci Gem Scheiwiller (Anthem, London, New York: 2013).
• “Textual Element in Modern and Contemporary Iranian Art,” Art Tomorrow, (English-Persian), no.5, (2011): 112-125.
• “Contemporary or Specific: the Dichotomous Desires in Art of Early 21st Century Iran”, Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication, vol. 4, no. 1 (2011): 44–71.
• “Seeing Twofold: Locality and Trans-locality in the Art of Contemporary Iran”, Art Tomorrow, (English-Persian), no. 3 (2011): 144-151.
  “The Paradigms for Contemporaneity in Iranian art,” Art Tomorrow, (English-Persian), no.1 (2010): 112-125.
• "The Question of Identity vis-à-vis Exoticism in Contemporary Iranian Art,” Journal of Iranian Studies, vol. 43, no.4 (2010): 489-512
• “Phenomenology and Art: a Method or an Approach?,” Pazhuhish-nameh-i Farhangistan-i hunar (Journal of the Iranian Academy of Arts), no. 5, Azar-Dey 1386 (Dec.-Jan 2007/2008): 117-133.
• “Contemporary Iranian Art: The Emergence of New Artistic Discourses,” Journal of Iranian Studies, vol. 40, no. 3 (2007): 335-366.
• “Discourses on Post-Revolutionary Iranian Art: Neo-traditionalism during the 1990s,” Muqarnas, An Annual on the Visual Culture of the Islamic World, vol. 23 (2006): 131-157.
• “Neo-traditionalism and Modern Iranian Painting: the Saqqā-khāneh School in the 1960s”, Journal of Iranian Studies, vol. 38, no. 4 (2005): 607-630.

 Not reviewed:

• “Showcasing Contemporary Iranian Photo-based Art: A Critical Account”, in Contemporary Iranian Photography, Five Perspectives, ed. Abbas Daneshvari (California: Mazda Publication, 2017).
• “The Trajectory of Koorosh Shishegaran’s Artistic Phases: From Utopianism to Aestheticism”, in Koorosh Shishegaran: Life and Work (London: Saqi Books, 2016).
• “The Contemporary Art Scene of Iran: Cultural Policy, Infrastructure, Dissemination and Exchange”, in Didgah, New Perspectives on UK-Iran Cultural Relations, (London: Penguin, 2015).
• “Historiography of Modern Iranian Art,” in Iran Modern, eds. by Fereshteh Daftari and Layla Diba (New York: Asia Society, Yale, 2013).
• “Beauty versus reality: Nosratollah Moslemian’s Art in different stages”, Art Tomorrow, (English-Persian), no.7 (2012): 26-37.
• “Amidst Shadow and Light: Challenges and New Waves in Iranian Art”, Journal of The Iran Society, vol. 2, no. 11 (2012): 32-44.
• “Curatorial History and Curating Art Exhibition: An Iranian Account,” in Essays on Curating Contemporary Art (Iranian Art Exhibitions), ed. Hamid Keshmirshekan (Tehran: Markaz Publication, 2011): 48-63 (English/Persian).
• “Neo-calligraphism and Its Different Varieties in Modern and Contemporary Iranian Art,” in Metalwork and Material Culture in the Islamic World: Art, Craft and Text, eds. Mariam Rosser-Owen and Venetia Porter (I.B. Tauris, London, New York: 2012), pp. 441‒460.
• “Globalisation and the Question of Identity: Discourses on Contemporary Iranian Art during Past Two Decades,” in Amidst Shadow and Light: Contemporary Iranian Art and Artists, edited by Hamid Keshmirshekan, (Liaoning Creative Press Ltd, Hong Kong: 2011): 64-81.
• “Reproducing Modernity: The Art of Post-revolutionary Iran since the Late 1990s,” in Amidst Shadow and Light: Contemporary Iranian Art and Artists, edited by Hamid Keshmirshekan, (Liaoning Creative Press Ltd, Hong Kong: 2011): 44-63.
• "The New Wave of Iranian Art: Tendencies and Origins,” Art Press (bilingual (French/ English), no.17 (2010): 22-35.
• "Dislocation, Images of Dream and Social Commentary: Mostafa Darrebaghi's Paintings and Installations,” Nuktaart, Biannual, Contemporary Art Magazine of Pakistan, vol.4, no. 2 (2009): 21-24.
• “Modern and Contemporary Iranian Art: Developments and Challenges,” in Different Sames: New Perspectives in Contemporary Iranian Art (London: Thames and Hudson, 2009): 10-37.
• "Hybridism: Contextualization of Contemporary Middle Eastern Art in the Early 21st Century,” Nukta Art, Biannual, Contemporary Art Magazine of Pakistan, vol.3, no. 2 (2008): 49-61.

Exhibition catalogues:

• “Reflecting the Past into the Present versus Constructive Specificity in Modern and Contemporary Art in Iran”, in In the Fields of Empty Days: The Intersection of Past and Present in Iranian Art, ed. Linda Komaroff (LA: LACMA Museum, 2018).
• “Re-interpretation of The Classic and The Contemporary”, in Bizhan Bassiri: Noor, ed. Bruno Corà (Milan: Silvana Editoriale, 2017)  
• “Globalisierung und die Frage der Identität: Diskurse über die neuere Geschichte der iranischen Kunst”, in Geben Gestern morgen, Iran Architektur und Kunst war (Berlin: IFA Foundation, 2016).
• “De-contextualisation of Forms and Concepts: Wim Delvoye, an Originator”, in Wim Delvoye in Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (Tehran: TMoCA, 2015).

c. Encyclopaedia Entries:

• “Saqqa-khana School of Art,” Encyclopaedia Iranica, Edited by: Ehsan Yarshater, (London & New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul).

His interests are twentieth and twentieth-first century art from the Middle East, with particular attention to the recent developments in art practice and its relation to the context; the relationship between this art and other current debates in contemporary art and culture in the new millennium, such as global/transnational modernities and the concept of contemporaneity versus specificity. His research addresses major historical, conceptual, theoretical and aesthetic issues that inform contemporary art historiography and debates about the politics of writing art histories.