Siavash Naghshbandi
(b.1987, Tehran, Iran) visual artist based in Tehran. Graduating from Animation, he began his photography career in 2006 with solo exhibitions at Nikol Gallery and Mehrva Gallery (2008) around urban culture concerns. Later on, he continued his artistic activity using other media like Animation, video, artificial intelligence, and filmmaking. Among these creative ventures are the solo exhibitions of Dastan Gallery (2019), Electric Room (2017), and Teerart projects (2019). His photographs and videos have been exhibited in exhibitions and museums, like the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art (2008), the Chelsea Museum, New York (2009), Mattress Factory Museum, Pittsburgh (2019), Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Arizona (2020), Aaran Art Gallery (2011), Azad Art Gallery (2010), Bhavan Art Gallery (2019), Hafriyat Karakoy Gallery, Istanbul (2008), Tomin Videothek, Frankfurt (2017), Hillyer Art Space, Washington D.C (2017) Affenfaust Galerie, Humburg (2018). His films have been featured in various festivals, including SEH-TANK: Cinéma, Zurich (2013), Middle East Now Film Festival, Florence (2013), Göteborg Film Festival (2013), Schkaneder Kino, Vienna (2018), Skol Art Center, Montreal (2019), Neverland Cinema, Rotterdam (2019), Oyoun Space, Berlin (2021), shortlisted for Magic of Persia Contemporary Art Prize, London (2018). Jury Prize - Ann Arbor Film Festival, Michigan (2021)
SOLO EXHIBITIONS AND PROJECTS
2019 Exposed, Dastan Gallery, Tehran, Iran – Curated by Sohrab Kashani
2018 Lift, Teer Art Week, Tehran, Iran – Curated by Sohrab Kashani
2017 Inevitably Inescapable, Dastan Gallery - Electric Room, Tehran, Iran
2009 These Kiosks, Mehrva Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 Home, Home, Home, Temporary Home, Berlin, Germany – Curated by Davood Madadpoor
2021 Street View, Public Space, Maastricht, The Netherlands
2021 Noxte Vol IV, Bethanien Creative Quarter, Berlin, Germany
2021 Amber Network Festival, (Online Exhibition) a'21 LAB EXHIBITION, Oyoun Space, Berlin, Germany
2021 HerMAP Art Projects, BOZAR - Brussels, Belgium
2020 Sumac Space (Online), Villa Romana, Florence, Italy – Curated by Katharina Ehrl
2020 Urban Mapping, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Arizona, USA – Curated by Gohar Dashti
2020 Contemporary Iranian Art & The Historical Imagination, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, CVPA Campus Gallery, Dartmouth, USA
2020 Even in Arcadia there am I, Bavan Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran – Curated by Hoofar Haghighi
2019 VOICE-OVER (IN THREE PARTS), The Other Apartment, Mattress Factory Museum, Pittsburgh, PA, USA – Sazmanab, Tehran, Iran – Curated by Sohrab Kashani andJoseph Del Pesco
2018 Wundern über tanawo, Affenfaust Galerie, Hamburg, Germany – Curated by Raphaela Roessler
2017 Urban Spaces, Hillyer Art Space, Washington D.C., USA – Curated by Gohar Dashti
2017 MixedRealities, Tomin Videothek, Frankfurt, Germany – Curated by Laura Wünsche
2015 TADAEX 05, Mohsen Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2011 Aksbazi, Aaran Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran – Curated by Haleh Anvari
2009 Iran Inside Out, DePaul University Art Museum, Chicago, USA – Curated by Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath
2009 Re-assemblage, Assar Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran – Curated by Vahid Sharifian
2009 Iran Inside Out, Chelsea Art Museum, New York, USA – Curated by Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath
2009 Urban Jealousy, Newyorck Gallery, Berlin, Germany – Curated by Amirali Ghassemi and Serhat Köksal
SELECTED SCREENINGS
2023 INSTANTS VIDEO, Marseille, France – Curated by Amirali Ghasemi
2022 FIVARS Virtual Reality Festival, Toronto, Canada
2022 All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace, KADIST Collection, A4 Art Museum, Chengdu, China
2022 Territorial Challenges, Mohit Art Projects
2021 FIVARS Virtual Reality Festival, Los Angeles, USA
2021 INACCESSIBLE PRESENT 4.0, Oyoun Space, Berlin, Germany
2021 59th Ann Arbor Film Festival, Michigan, USA
2020 Dyscorpia 2.1, Enterprise Square Galleries, Alberta, Canada
2020 Other Ways of Watching Together, Neverland Cinema, Rotterdam, Netherlands
2019 I am a Stone, My Name is the River, Skol Art Center, Montreal, Canada
2019 Detour to Tehran, Gasteig, Munich, Germany
2018 Detour to Tehran, Schkaneder Kino, Vienna, Austria
2018 Taiwan Annual 2018 (Sazmanab’s booth), Taipei, Taiwan
2018 An Ordinary Day Film Festival, Stockholm, Sweden
2017 Limited Access 7, Aaran Art Gallery, Tehran, Iran
2013 SEH-TANK, Cinema Subversif, Zurich, Switzerland
2013 Middle East Now Film Festival, Florence, Italy
2013 The Invisible Present, Göteborg International Film Festival, Gothenburg, Sweden
2013 The Invisible Present, Rotterdam Film Festival, Rotterdam, Netherlands
AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS
2021 Ann Arbor Film Festival - Jury Prize, Michigan, USA
2018 MOP CAP 2018 (Magic Of Persia Contemporary Art Prize), London, UK - Shortlisted
2008 The Third Photo Festival of Art University, Tehran, Iran - Jury Prize
2007 First Documentary Photo Festival, Isfahan, Iran - Winner of the second prize
2005 Child Photo Festival, Tehran, Iran - Winner of the third prize
TALKS AND PRESENTATIONS
2021 5th Utphotoex, Tehran University, Tehran, Iran
2019 From Studio, Kaarnamaa, New Media Society, Tehran, Iran
2018 New Media Society, Tehran, Iran
WORKSHOPS
2022 Shortfilm Fund 2021, Berlin (Online)
2021 21' Amber Network Festival, Oyoun, Berlin (Online)
2019 Ramak Fazel, Pejman Foundation, Tehran, Iran
2018 Michael Pilz, Newmedia Society, Tehran, Iran
WORK EXPERIENCES AND COLLABORATIONS
2024 “Winter in Paradise” - Shahpour Pouyan | Frist Art Museum - Nashville, Tennessee, USA | VR Creator
2024 “Brides of the Rain” | Nassaukerk – Amsterdam, Netherlands / Sulaymaniyeh - Kurdistan | Video Designer
2023 “The Passion of Now '23” | Nassaukerk – Amsterdam, Netherlands | Video Designer
2023 “Scenes of Extraction” - Sanaz Sohrabi | Film Essay | VFX & 3D Animation
2022 “Va Pensiero” | Rijksmuseum van Oudheden | Leiden, Netherlands | Video Designer
2022 “Ine Aya” Opera by Miranda Lakerveld & Nursalim Yadi Anugerah, Desa Datah Diaan (Kayan Village), Jakarta, Pontianak, Indonesia | Video Designer
2022 “Antigone’s of the Pandemic” VR-opera by Miranda Lakerveld & Siavash Naghshbandi, Westerkerk Church, Amsterdam, Netherlands | Video Designer
2021 “Ine Aya” Opera by Miranda Lakerveld & Nursalim Yadi Anugerah, Holland Festival, Amsterdam, Netherlands | Video Designer
2019 “Turan Dukht” Opera by Miranda Lakerveld & Aftab Darvishi, Holland Festival, Amsterdam, Netherlands | Video Designer
2008 "About Elly... " by Asghar Farhadi | Photographer in the motion picture
2006 "We Only Live Twice" by Behnam Behzadi | Photographer in the motion picture
SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY
2023 Here / There | VR Shortfilm | Director
2023 Dissociative Amnesia | Short Animation | Director
2023 Saba Alizadeh “Nafir (Clamour)” (Music Video) | Director
2021 Saba Alizadeh - Only Hope Breaks The Dark Waves (Music Video) | Director
2020 Pouya Ehsaei, Ariwo - QUASI (Music Video) | Editor
2007-2019 “Mr.Tayyab” | Feature Documentary Film | Director
2017 King Raam – Tehran (Music Video) | Director
2017 Bomrani Band – The Port Called Tehran (Music Video) | Director
2016 Pallett Band – This Ain’t My City (Music Video) | Director
2014-2016 10 Feature Film | Assistant Editor
2012-2017 Documentary Videos of Art Scenes in Tehran | Director
2012 Bomrani Band "Good Childhood Days" (Music Video) | Co-Director
Last update: 2025-07