Iran: Memory X Heartbeat
Mehdi Darvishi, Minoo Emami, Eugenie Flochel, Farzaneh Ghadyanloo, Farsad Labbauf, Tahmineh Monzavi, Dariush Nehdaran, Azadeh Nia, Maryam Palizgir,
Safarani Sisters, Mona Sartoveh, Atieh Sohrabi, and Ali Tahayori
Curated by Roya Khadjavi and the Safarani Sisters
November 6 - December 20, 2026
This exhibition brings together a group of Iranian artists living across geographies, whose practices emerge from a shared origin but unfold through distance, displacement, and time.
While physically separated from their country of birth, these artists remain connected to it through memory, language, and lived experiences, a constant struggle between the heart and the head. This ongoing conflict is what we feel inside every day. We are afraid to loose our roots and our authenticity and, therefore, go through a psychological battle within us to keep Iran as our heart beat and not to let her become a distant memory. The title of the exhibition, Iran: Memory X Heartbeat is a true reflection of this internal fight.
Image credit: Tahmineh Monzavi
About the Curators
Roya Khadjavi is a gallerist, independent curator and cultural producer based in New York City. Under Roya Khadjavi Projects, she has organized over 40 exhibitions since 2014 with over 60 artists and has participated in numerous art fairs internationally to promote the emerging and mid-career and established Iranian artists living in Iran and the diaspora. She has largely focused on the work of these artists, seeking not only to support their artistic endeavors but to also facilitate awareness and cultural dialogue between artistic communities by attending and participating in Conferences and panel discussions in the US and in Europe. Roya has been a collector and a patron of the arts for over 20 years. Since 2008, she has actively led exhibition committee efforts around the art of the Middle East for institutions including the Guggenheim Museum and the Asia Society, where she sat on the steering committee of the critically acclaimed exhibit Iran Modern in 2013. Khadjavi co-founded the Institute of International Education’s Iran Opportunities Fun in in 2009 where she has been active ever since fundraising for the cause as a committee member and as a donor herself. She served as a trustee and later president of the board of the acclaimed New York based non-profit Art in General from 2012-2020. Roya also served as a trustee at the prestigious School, The Lycée Francais de New York as Chair of the development committee and co-chair of the Strategic plan committee from 2002 to 2011. Prior to her support and promotion of Iranian art, Roya had a 20-year career in the Fashion Industry. The latest positions she held in that Industry were as the Vice President of Sales and marketing North America for the prestigious fashion company Yves Saint Laurent from 1994-2000 and as Vice President Divisional Merchandise Manager of Women’s Designer, Eveningwear and Bridge collection at the Department Store Lord and Taylor from 1990-1994. For her pioneering efforts to advance, support, and promote international education, she has been honored with the Women’s Global Leadership Award by the Institute of International Education and an Order of Academic Palms (Chevalier dans L’Ordre des Palmes Académiques) by the French Minister of Education.
Farzaneh and Bahareh Safarani
Alongside their artistic practice, the Safarani Sisters are actively engaged in curating occasional exhibitions, with a particular focus on Iranian artists and the diaspora. This curatorial direction emerged from reconnecting with their former classmates in Iran, inspiring them to create opportunities to showcase their peers’ work. What began as a personal initiative has since expanded into a broader platform supporting diverse voices across geographies. Farzaneh Safarani also collaborates closely with Roya Khadjavi Projects as an associate, contributing to curatorial development and exhibition programming.