Imagining the "Seattle-Tehran Poster Show": Designing Across Boundaries

Poster by Tehrani artist Behrad Javanbakht

Graphic designer Daniel Smith of Seattle, Washington, shares the following report of a creative conversation he is pursuing with artistic colleagues in Iran. FOR's 5th peace delegation to Iran are finding creative ways to engage in dialogue and build relationships with professional peers, despite the political walls being erected by their two governments.

Solidarity with the Iranian people in words and deeds is a fundamental goal of this trip. Meeting Iranians throughout the city of Tehran has been enlightening and thoroughly enjoyable. They are open, honest, warm and invariably accepting of Americans. They are excited to see that we are truly interested in them, a valuable antidote to the political rhetoric from the States on which the Iranian media focuses.

As a graphic designer, I share a bond with other designers from around the world and make a point of seeking them out while traveling. In preparation for this trip, I researched Iranian designers online, where a series of websites led me to a network of talented people in Tehran. I invited several of them to meet with me in our hotel and discuss a project that would unify us. The greatest response came from a loose association of young designers, most being recent graduates of Tehran University. These designers were born in 1979, or later, and grew up knowing only a post-revolutionary Iran. Meeting with two of them for the first time, we enjoyed an easy connection, talking, laughing, and sharing work until the early morning hours. That first meeting led to others and promises of future cooperation.

Iranian design work is quite different from anything being produced in the States, at least on the surface. The exoticness of Persian typography is strange, seductive, and utterly fascinating to an outsider. These designers say their generation has struggled to create a new graphic identity for themselves. Graphic design is an idea imported from the West. Its jargon has no clear equivalent in Farsi, so foreign words such as "posters" and "typography" have become the standard in their industry. Persian typography itself, once viewed as an inhibitor to good Iranian design by Iranians themselves (something to hold up against the design of the West) has become their cutting-edge area for exploration. With much credit going to the guidance of famed Tehran University professor Reza Abedini, they have found something "ownable." The flexibility of this new Persian typography is incredible—Farsi script becomes so much more than "type" in their hands, it becomes image itself. In their designs the word is image, the image is fluid, and Roman characters become clunky, rigid, hopelessly static by comparison. The influence of Iranian theocracy and local interpretation of the Muslim faith, with its concerns of idolatry in printed representations of humans and animals, is an underlying strain to their visuals. While these images are not banned in Iran, as in certain neighboring countries, the number of purely typographic posters produced by this post-revolutionary generation of designers speaks to concern in this area.

Beyond aesthetic differences, there is much that we share as humans and as design professionals. The project I proposed to designers here in Tehran is the continuation of work I began with designers in Cuba. An exhibition I organized entitled "The Seattle-Havana Poster Show" premiered in Seattle this past year and in April 2008 it will move to a museum in Havana. This show required close communication and coordination between individuals of two nations with a troubled history. We proved to ourselves and others that despite the difficulty of sanctions, lack of direct mail service, and few open avenues of communication, we could work together on a very public project, an expression of our determination to be united by our similarities.

Using the first exhibit as a template, I began to imagine another of more far-flung proportions and perhaps greater political difficulty. To the designers of Tehran, I proposed a similar exhibition and they are unanimous in their desire to see it happen. At home in Seattle, people are excited about the possibility of working with Iranians and a gallery space has already been reserved as part of a huge arts and music festival supported by the city. As for the second half of the project, presenting a joint exhibition in Tehran, designers here feel we must work closely in the coming months to determine the best way to present it. Iranians who come in contact with foreigners, especially Americans, may be the subject of greater scrutiny by the Iranian government. However, the designers here believe it is not a problem to exhibit together if we approach it in a low-key fashion. Artwork that pushes various boundaries is often shown in Tehran, generally it is exhibited in private-run galleries and promoted only by word-of-mouth or email announcements. A similar approach is their recommendation for success. At worst, they believe some negative press may appear in the state-controlled newspapers concerning the American involvement, but on the whole they know an entire community in Tehran will welcome and support this show.

Through contacts made and friendships born on this brief visit to Tehran, I expect that next September in Seattle "The Seattle-Tehran Poster Show" will open. This is a valuable step in showing members of each other's wider communities how we truly think and feel. It humanizes the other side and demonstrates not simply a willingness to reach out to one another, but a concrete example of how to do so. With the Cuba exhibit I saw the broad acceptance of this premise—an estimated 8-9,000 people saw the show in Seattle without a single complaint or question as to why we gave voice to a nation perceived as at odds with our own. While being a potentially higher-profile and politically charged exhibit, I expect similar acceptance by the public of a Seattle-Tehran show with proportionally higher rewards in breaking down barriers and challenging stereotypes.

For more information:

• www.rezaabedini.com
• www.seattlehavana.com
• www.posterpage.ch/exhib/ex191rok/ex191rok.htm
• www.posterpage.ch/exhib/ex69_wir/ex69_wir.htm

Daniel R. Smith