PRIVATE VIEW | PAPER MACHE TIGER PRESENTS AN EXHIBITION BY ALI MOBASSER

In an epoch where immigration is becoming increasingly contested and identity is in flux, Paper Mache Tiger presents Stamps of a Revolution, an exhibition by artist Ali Mobasser, exploring the diasporic narrative of Iranian’s after the revolution.

With age, identity becomes an entity of complex, interrelated layers. Stamps of a Revolution symbolises the fluidity of self in the face of passing time. Mobasser’s childhood was marked by movement, uprooted from his native Iran in the midst of the 1979 Revolution due to his grandfather’s role in the Shah’s Government, he collected stamps until the age of the twelve. This stamp collection became Mobasser’s sole connection to the region he was becoming increasingly estranged from.

The movement of the stamps is reflective of Ali’s personal journey, of distance and reconnection. The stamps were printed and sent from Iran before being sent to America, and then travelling to London as part of Mobasser’s cherished collection. Thirty years later, the stamps were photographed in the UK and then finally taken back to Iran to be re-printed and framed for an exhibition in collaboration with Tehran’s Ag Gallery. Paper Mache Tiger contributes to this nostalgic voyage, exhibiting the series in the city Mobasser refers to as home.

In 2018, Mobasser was shortlisted for the prestigious New Discovery Award at Les Rencontres d’Arles and will be exhibiting at The Photolux Festival in Lucca, Italy in 2019. Mobasser is represented by Ag Gallery in Tehran, Iran. 

Primarily a fashion wholesale and communications agency with an adjoining retail space, Paper Mache Tiger is increasingly becoming a platform for emerging and established creatives, providing spatial solutions for compelling ideas that engage the local community.