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78 Earth and Elsewhere | Contemporary Works from the Collection
Earth and Elsewhere | Contemporary Works from the Collection 79
Mitra Tabrizian
/ Iran/England /
Untitled
2009, printed 2010 / Type C photograph on paper / 126.9 x 296cm, 124.8 x 267.2cm (comp.) / Acc. 2010.344 / Purchased 2010 with
a special allocation from the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation
Mi tra Tabr i z ian
Untitled
2009, printed 2010
Mitra Tabrizian combines documentary photography and
advertising techniques to create stylised expressions of
contemporary culture.
Untitled
was shot on the outskirts of
Tehran prior to the violent government crackdown on mass
demonstrations that followed the disputed Iranian presidential
election of June 2009. Moving to suppress opposition rallies
after Mahmoud Ahmadinejab was re‑elected as president, the
Iranian Government instead sparked accusations (and subsequent
protests) from supporters of oppositional leader Mir-Hossein
Mousavi that the voting has been rigged. During this period,
Tehran University was closed, a decision symbolic of the role
dissident students and universities play in Iranian public life.
Here, Tabrizian’s students appear exiled on the outskirts of the
Iranian capital, capturing a mood of isolation and defiance as they
look past the viewer to an indeterminate future.