Gurgaon. A show reflecting the turbulent socio-political situation in Iran opened last month at the Devi Art Foundation in Gurgaon near New Delhi (“The Elephant in the Dark,” until 30 May), the gallery founded by the Indian private collector Anupam Poddar and his mother, Lekha. More than 50 artists drawn from the collection are presented, including Tehran-based Shirin Aliabadi, who challenges authority through her garish fashion statements (Miss Hybrid 6, 2009). Barbad Golshiri is showing Narcissus Echoes, 2009-10, a mirror installation incorporating a megaphone which recites the artist’s own torture confessions. “It’s inevitable that some Iranian artists deal with political issues in light of the upheaval there. Iranian contemporary artists were tackling such topics before the Arab Spring began in early 2011,” says the art adviser Arianne Levene, a specialist in the Middle Eastern market.
Originally appeared as 'Iranian art takes centre stage in India'