Mahboubeh Kazemi: Middle Eastern Contemporary Art Is Experiencing an Identity Suspension / The Urgent Need to Return to Authenticity

The founder and director of Baran Auction, the Middle East's first specialised auction dedicated to calligraphy, Islamic calligraphy, and Islamic arts, believes that contemporary art in the region is experiencing a state of "identity suspension" and argues that artists across the Middle East must once again focus on their own civilisational and cultural foundations.

Mahboubeh Kazemi Analyzes a Mir Emad Al-Hassani Nastaliq Masterpiece: From The Met and the Louvre to Baran Auction

Mahboubeh Kazemi, founder and director of Baran Auction—the first specialized auction dedicated to calligraphy and Iranian-Islamic art—offers a detailed analysis of an outstanding calligraphic work by Mir Emad Al-Hassani that was sold at the inaugural edition of the auction. Using this masterpiece as a point of departure, she highlights remarkable examples of works by the “pinnacle of Nastaliq” preserved in some of the world’s most prestigious museums

Mahboubeh Kazemi: The Middle East Must Recognize Zinat al-Sadat Emami — The Third Vertex of the Triangle Formed by Monir Farmanfarmaian and Fakhr-al-Nisa’ Zeid

The world does not know that the so-called male-dominated Middle East also produced remarkable women artists a century ago—women whose artistic creations have enriched humanity’s cultural heritage. Today, Zinat al-Sadat Emami, in her nineties in Isfahan, Iran, continues to shine. In my view, she forms the third radiant vertex alongside Monir Farmanfarmaian and Fakhr-al-Nisa’ Zeid.