Auteur: Nima Bahrehmand

O paradox. I tried to explain that for a young Iranian artist making art in Belgium, it is not easy to leave (explicit) references to my background out of the picture. But by talking about this, I generated attention that I would not have had if I didn't come from this ‘exotic’ country.

Imagine you are a young artist from Iran on its way to Europe anno 2013. Like any other young artist, your creativity emerges from self-struggle. The odd thing, however, is that a lot of people expect your work to be ‘different’.

I always run into the same quite spooky questions: “Coming from the East, are you familiar with (Western) art?”; “Are artists actually allowed to make art over there?”. As an answer to some of your questions, I selected a virtual tour for you.