Tavaali: The First Show, a Group Exhibition

1-15 November 2024

Artists: Alireza Fani, Sina Mohammadi, Roozbeh Maleki, Mahoor Zahraee, Rana Severi, Hessam Yekta

Statement

Zines are small booklets, usually produced in limited editions, with simple binding, allowing individuals to present their work without the formalities of producing extensive books or dealing with the costs and challenges of organizing exhibitions. This medium is ideal for essays, illustrated books, and, of course, art books, with numerous examples emerging over the past century. Today, with the widespread production of artistic works, the growing interest in self-publishing, and the increasing number of independent publishers, zines have become a focal point for both artists and publishers.

Since photography is a medium closely tied to experimentation and exploration, viewing diverse works from a photographer often helps in understanding their process. Photographers frequently have collections that can be considered side projects or extensions of their main body of work.These collections often lack a cohesive presentation and sometimes only one or a few pieces are shown in group exhibitions. However photography zines, by providing a platform to present entire collections, have become an ideal medium for showcasing such works. In this exhibition, works from six zines published by Tavaali are on display. Despite the advantages of photo books, many photographs still require better and larger prints for optimal viewing. For this reason, when a new book is published by Tavalii, its launch is often accompanied by an exhibition of the works. The juxtaposition of these works is not due to thematic or formal similarities, but rather because the books were published at the same time.