Gallery

From the Gold Land

Maps and Portraits by Roxana Manouchehri 

Maps are the reflection [representation] of an external reality that are generally hidden from the field of view of humans; especially when they are maps of the world, countries' political or natural geography, a hidden reality projected in the context of a convention. 

Despite the conventional ways of producing maps, there have always been people whose efforts have progressed the methodology of map production. People like Habash Haseb Marwazi during the 9th century, Abu Rayhan Al-Biruni during the 10th century or Piri Reis Sahab, an Ottoman cartographer during the 16th century, have all contributed to the techniques of mapping through their vast knowledge and creativity. They produced maps that could be easily understood and read by others. 

This act is known as 'reading maps' and Roxana Manouchehri's project is focused on the process of map reading and in challenging its conventions. 

In the era in which provincial maps, geography of politics and nature, ecology, demography, etc., can beread easily due to universally understood codes and symbols, Roxana Manouchehri has tried to produce a new kind of map in an artistic context, of global politics of the 19th century. Like other mappers, she has tried to reflect her ideas in three spheres: visual, symbolic and indexical. The symbolic sphere is represented by colours: gold is the symbol of ultimate power and other colours represent areas of imperial authority. In the sphere of image, Manouchehri has used countries' contemporary political maps and has adjusted them based on symbolic colours of the colonial world of the late 19th century. In fact, by overlapping the political maps of countries today and the world maps of colonial countries [colonial map] of the late 19th century, she has invented a new type of mapping and map-reading that is defined within an art project. 

Since indexical signification of this project are referencing the idea of maps, as a representation of the world the way it is imagined and depicted, hence denotative meaning of the series is read through meanings of representation. Implicitly, however, Manouchehri's way of using political icons, her choice of iconic colour, and its placement on the map of each continent, in a way, is a reminder of the technique of Pointillists. Colours don't mix and borders don't reach each other, but the collection together makes the impossible, possible. 

In addition to political, historical and geographical referrals, Manouchehri's indexical references to art history and to Pointillism in particular, shows that this project, more than anything, is Art. It is an art project that connotatively reminds the viewer of forgotten questions and concepts about representation. 

In the second part of this project, she has selected and reproduced portraits of royalties that are related to the maps she has used and are interpreted accordingly. The difference is that instead of the faces of rulers and kings, she has placed mirrors so that viewers can see themselves in their place. In the portraits' section, colourful codes no longer exist and the viewer must imagine instead, the heritage of power in front of these mirrors. 

Roxana Manouchehri presents From The Gold Land series based on three components: representation, reading and the history of political power. Her choice of contractual maps are not the only way to represent a world outside of our field of vision, and although our understanding of such vast reality has been adjusted according to the realities of two centuries ago, it is still possible to refer to such a large-scale outside reality through them in other ways. Roxana Manouchehri's exhibition introduces one of these possibilities.

Siamak Delzendeh