Ezdaar means a free tree in Mazandarani dialect, the Alborz’s local tree (south and southwest of Caspian Sea), where the activities of Ezdaar’s project has been started. This tree has a particular value and holiness in North of Iran. In so far as, people tie a fabric on it and pray.*
We have started some experiences in the realm of contemporary art in Mazandaran Province in 2013. These activities began to introduce contemporary arts and new medias Since, these projects were unknown and many questions were being made in audience’s mind by these experiences.
These activities have begun in 2013 by set of meetings, Lectures, exhibitions, workshops and artist talk as well as discussion with critics and masters, and finally the activities continued under the name of Ezdaar in 2015.
Ezdaar organizes its programs in various cities of Mazandaran Province and it cooperates with Iranian and foreign artistic environments to help art’s improvement in outside of the capital by putting together local and non-local artists.
Ezdaar projects emphasize on art periphery as it mentions the reformation of “center and periphery”. Art periphery doesn’t want to describe a style or an art attitude, but as for spatial structure and geographic classification, like: west, none-west, capital and township, universal and local, international and national, it considers art situation. Cultural and social structures which are related to the space, first interfere with art formation and then make the art presentation and consumption possible. Politics and acts with capital concentration in Iran made Tehran as a center of art society. The townships of Iran do art in the system based on capital as an important place, thus questions about Iranian periphery art is directed to the formation trend and art meaning in some parts of Iran as well as artists emphasize on differences of their arts from the capital.
Ezdaar, further its previous activities, now is working on the projects about urban memory and decadence because of present geographic and social situation.
*A traditional kind of pray under the name of “Dakhil” in Iran.