In creating this book I've had to think long and hard on the subject of art and its relationship to culture and society. Does art have an impact on society? Or is art society's indirect stirring for cultural change？What are these issues of 'self and 'the other' that Iranian artists like to bring up when talking about their oeuvre and the meaning behind the meaning? How much truth is there in developing theories of the 'hybridization' and 'alobalization' of art discussed in this book？

...

Long considered a bastion of creativity in the region, Iran is currentty experiencing a remarkable artistic revival in the middl_e of the most challenging of circumstances. Iranian artists - whether based inside or outside the country - are creating remarkable works that reflect their country's social and political environment, while incorporating their own personal worldviews and those of their adopted homelands.Seen together, these works form a new and exciting movement that can only gain in importance in the coming years.

Different Sames: New Perspectives in Contemporary IranianArt catalogues this new movement, capturing its brilliance and creative energy. Packed with wonderful images, it is an important and lively compendium of thought-provoking essays, historical context and profiles of the leading artists, whether well-estabLished Isuch as Parviz Tanavoli and Monir Farmanfarmaian, internationally recognized [such as Shirin Neshat, Y. Z. Kami or Mitra Tabrizian}, or emerging [such as AI.i Banisadr or Tala Madani}. ExcLusive interviews with the key artists, co[lectors and curators offer fascinating new insights, and allow the book to explore the differences and simil.arities between current international movements in art and the art produced both in Iran and by artists of the Persian Diaspora.

Art changes the way we look at the world, and Different Sames is an attempt to explain today's Iranian art movement in this spirit.

Foreword

Hossein Amirsadeghi

Modern and Contemporary Iranian Art:DeveLopments and ChaLLenges

 Hamid Keshmirshekan

Vatan [homeLand]: A Rumination on TerritoriaLity

 Mark Irving

Diasporic Communities and Gtobal Networks:The Contemporaneity of Iranian Art Today

 Anthony Oowney

Artists, Curators and Coll.ectors

Notes

BibLiography

Index

AcknowLedgments