Join us for a talk by Paris and Tehran-based art director Aria Kasaei, co-founder of Studiokargah,  a multifaceted graphic design agency that encompasses curatorial, research and archival work around Iranian visual culture. Aria will talk through the breadth of Studiokargah’s acclaimed work across design, publishing and curating and the structuring of the studio’s research and output through the configurations of the Home, Factory and Laboratory.

Aria will also delve into approaches to bi-lingual design, the importance of engaging with histories of design and visual culture from the region, and the relationship of design research to public and urban spaces.

In 2001, Aria Kasaei co-founded Studiokargah as a graphic design studio in the heart of Tehran.  In 2014, he started Studiokargah Archival Projects, an attempt to collect, classify and curate the documents of Iran’s pre-revolution visual arts and culture in order to prevent them from being erased and forgotten. These projects included exhibitions, discussion panels, and a publication for each project. He has collaborated with the Musee d’ Art Moderne, Paris (MAM), Musee Des Arts Decoratifs Paris (MAD), Fondazione MAXXI Rome, Tate London, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts (TMoCA), Pejman Foundation and Nabshi Center in Tehran.

Studiokargah is a medium-sized independent studio collaborating with cultural institutes around the world. Studiokargah is structured as a  multidimensional life form build around three core notions: Home, Laboratory, and Factory- focusing on original ideas, research, design and implementation.Central to Studiokargah’s work and research is the collecting, classifying, archiving and curating of materials and artworks that are important to understanding, and building on, Iran’s history of graphic design. Studiokargah believes that the capacities of the history of art, literature and the eclectic urban culture of today’s Iran and the region can be used to create a contemporary visual language.

Banner image: Cover of ‘Fereydoun Ave; Designer,’ at Azad Art Gallery, Dastan’s Basement. Studiokargah Archival Project – III, 2014