Molla Nasreddin: Embrace Your Antithesis

A lecture by Payam Sharifi, Paris-based essayist, artist, and strategist

Thursday, February 07, 2013
2:00 PM
10383 Bunche Hall
UCLA
Los Angeles, CA 90095

*Lecture in English

Slavs and Tatars are proud to present “Molla Nasreddin: the magazine that would’ve, could’ve, should’ve,” a selection of the best caricatures and illustrations from the legendary Azerbaijani periodical, arguably the most important Muslim satirical political magazine of the 20th century. Featuring illustrations reminiscent of a Daumier of the Caucasus, “Molla Nasreddin” was read by an audience that stretched from Morocco to India, and addressed issues such as gender equality, education, colonialism, and Islam’s integration of modernity – all of which are as relevant and pressing to today’s global audience as when the magazine was first published a century ago.  “Molla Nasreddin: Embrace Your Antithesis,” includes a discussion of the book's historical context, a case study of the complexity otherwise known as the Caucasus, the figure of the antimodern, and the issue of self-censorship both then and now.

Payam Sharifi is a Paris-based essayist, artist, and strategist concerned with the politics of culture and the culture of politics. After graduating from Columbia University, Payam received a Marshall Scholarship to attend the Royal College of Art in London where he studied for an MPhil in Architecture and Design. He is a contributing editor to the Berlin- based bi-annual 032c and the co-founder of Slavs and Tatars, a collective devoted to Eurasia who have exhibited in institutions across Europe, North America and the Middle East, including the Tate Modern, Salt, and 10th Sharjah Biennial. Slavs and Tatars' recent solo exhibitions include Not Moscow Not Mecca at Vienna's Secession and Beyonsense at the MoMA, NY. His writing has been translated into French, Czech, Portuguese and Russian; with Slavs and Tatars, he has authored and edited several books, including Kidnapping Mountains (Book Works, 2009), Love Me, Love Me Not: Changed Names  (onestar press, 2010), Not Moscow Not Mecca (Secession/Revolver, 2012), Khhhhhhh  (Moravian Gallery, Brno/Mousse, 2012) and Molla Nasreddin: the magazine that would've, could've, should've  (JRP-Ringier, 2011). Slavs and Tatars' Friendship of Nations: Polish Shi'ite Showbiz, a look at the unlikely shared histories of Poland and Iran from 17th century Sarmatism to the 21st century Green Movement, opens at Los Angeles' REDCAT gallery on February 9th and runs to March 24th, 2013. 

Part of the Bilingual Lecture Series

Cost: Free and Open to the Public

For more information please contact

Johanna Romero
Tel: (310) 825-1455
romero@international.ucla.edu

Sponsor(s): Center for Near Eastern Studies, Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, Amuzegar Chair in Iranian Studies of UCLA