Inaugural lecture by Professor Setareh Shahbazi
Following a presentation by the class for Intermedia Photography at the Galerie Flut.
Bio
Setareh Shahbazi compiles and transforms micronarratives through observations, conversations, collaborations, visual notes and found photographs. With a playful irreverence toward the sanctity of a photograph as a mirror of reality, she drains details fromimages found in public archives and private collections, snapshots, films, newspapers, social media, and daily newsfeeds. In trying to make sense of their broken narratives, their im-/possible translations into different contexts, temporalities, and languages, she constantly shifts perspectives to allow these observations to come together in a fictional afterlife.
Setareh Shahbazi studied Scenography and Media Art at Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design and spent the following years living and working between Beirut, Tehran, and Berlin, where she is currently based.
Her work has been shown in international institutions, galleries and project spaces, including SAVVY Contemporary, Berlin; TAXISPALAIS Kunsthalle Tirol, Innsbruck; Haus der Statistik, Berlin; Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.), Berlin; Wei-Ling Contemporary, Kuala Lumpur; Depo, Istanbul; 17 Essex, New York; Nottingham Contemporary, UK; Tarahan-e Azad, Tehran; UK; Sharjah Biennial 13; UAE; Kadist Art Foundation, Paris; Kunsthaus Wien; Beirut Art Center, Lebanon; Gypsum Gallery, Cairo; 98weeks Project Space, Beirut; Contemporary Arts Forum, Santa Barbara; Galerie Sfeir-Semler, Hamburg; Montgomery, Berlin; Kunstverein Frankfurt; Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Beirut; HKW, Berlin; Fondation Cartier, Paris; Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe and Rooseum, Malmö.
In 2024 Setareh Shahbazi received the Wi Di Mimba Wi Commission Prize for Artists of Color from the AKB Foundation and SAVVY Contemporary, Berlin. The prize was followed by an exhibition at SAVVY Contemporary in 2025.