Rashin Fahandej

Rashin Fahandej is an Iranian-American multimedia artist, immersive filmmaker, futurist, and cultural activist whose work centers around marginalized voices as well as the role of media, technology, and public collaboration in generating social change. A proponent of “Art as Ecosystem,” she defines her projects as a “Poetic Cyber Movement for Social Justice,” where art mobilizes a plethora of voices by creating connections between public places and virtual spaces.

Early life and education Rashin Fahandej was born in Shiraz, Iran and currently resides in Boston, Massachusetts. It was common for Bahá'ís to have their houses raided, be imprisoned, or killed for their faith.

As a child, Fahandej was segregated from her classmates at school. She grew up being taunted and discriminated against.

Fahandej later moved to the United States and began studying at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2002, receiving her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in 2006. She then attended the San Francisco Art Institute in 2008 and received her Master of Fine Arts Degree in 2010. Her artworks have been shown both in the United States and internationally. by allowing them to display their artworks at the Boston Institute of Contemporary Art.

Art

Fahandej’s motivation for her artistic practice is her involvement in social justice, which stems from her personal experience as a woman, a member of a minority group in Iran, an immigrant, and an educator. Through her art, she tackles oppressive systems to represent the voices of marginalized groups as well as her personal experiences, to generate different expressions of local and international perspectives. The culmination of these narratives make up what Fahadej refers to as ‘Art as Ecosystem’, which refers to a network that critically discusses social systems.

Installations

Fahadej’s work mainly takes the form of installations where she allows for the collaboration of different mediums. Her installations create a space for contemplation and dialogue between the artwork and its audience. These collaborations of mediums stem from her interest in ‘the fluctuating space of cross-cultural encounter’, in which bringing together different aspects of cultures reflect universal concerns that are fused together through the creative process.

Selected exhibitions and awards

2019 Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston 2018 Boston Center for the Arts 2017 Boston Artist in Residence at Villa Victoria Center for the Arts 2012 The Wooden Synagogue Replication Project 2005 Patrick Gavin Award for Painting, Massachusetts College of Art 2005 China and Japan Travel Scholarship, Massachusetts College of Art 2006 Artist Supply Award, Massachusetts College of Art 2010 Kodak Film Grant, San Francisco Art Institute 2014 St. Botolph Club Foundation Emerging Artist Award 2019 Mass Cultural Council Artist Fellow 2019 Framingham Cultural Council award 2019 recipient of the James and Audrey Foster Prize 2020 American Arts Incubator Lead Artist at ZERO1 and the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs