Amirali Ghasemi | Tehran Remixed, a “True” Story | 40 min

Amirali Ghasemi’s lecture performance, A “True” Story, revolves around his celebrated multimedia project, Tehran Remixed. This project brought him early fame as an artist and was extensively showcased worldwide between 2005 and 2009. In this performance, Ghasemi reflects on Tehran Remixed as both his most successful and, paradoxically, his most failed project.

Tehran Remixed emerged as Ghasemi’s response to the distorted media representations of his hometown, Tehran, in the early 2000s. At the time, mainstream media often reduced Tehran to black-and-white extremes, focusing on themes like the veil and suppression. In contrast, Ghasemi sought to portray the Tehrani youth of that era, who, instead of pursuing expanded social liberties, were immersed in enjoying the final years of a so-called reformist government under President Khatami.

The project was an experimental attempt to blend documentary photography with digital manipulation, aiming to tell stories without violating the privacy of his subjects—a concern that Ghasemi felt was often overlooked in the fine art photography used in news and political articles about Iran. By incorporating multimedia elements and layered narratives, Tehran Remixed recreated moments that were ignored in mainstream media representations of Tehran, all while maintaining a humble, playful, and friendly spirit.

The photographs, taken during the last years of Khatami’s presidency, are now over two decades old. Ghasemi emphasizes the importance of understanding the context and timeframe in which these images were captured. For him, the project no longer represents today’s Iran but instead offers glimpses into a pre-social media era, specifically the lives of middle-class Tehrani youth. The passage of time has widened the gap between the reality of those moments and how they are perceived today, raising questions about how both the photographs and their subjects have evolved.

In A “True” Story, Ghasemi confronts his younger self, an artist in his early 20s who believed he could single-handedly challenge media representations of Iran and his generation through an ambitious photography project. While the project initially brought him success, including museum acquisitions and commercial praise, it eventually became a source of disillusionment. Ghasemi realized that Tehran Remixed had fallen into the same cycle of media consumption and shallow representation it sought to critique. This realization led him to temporarily halt showcasing the project.

However, Ghasemi has since reclaimed Tehran Remixed, using it as a lens to examine Iran’s transformation from a reformist government to a hardline regime. The project sheds light on broader societal shifts, particularly the experimentation with social freedoms during the early Internet era.

The Tehran Remixed, Party Series showcases digitally manipulated photographs taken at private parties, on the streets, in artist studios, and at cafes in Iran. These informal, spontaneous images capture friends wearing revealing clothing, conversing, dancing, or eating. They reveal a side of Iran that, to the Western gaze, often remained hidden “under the veil” or “behind closed doors.”

Although Ghasemi uses documentary material in his work, his approach is not purely documentary. Instead, he modifies the photographs to varying degrees to represent situations while preventing further manipulation. This process allows him to explore the tension between reality and representation.

Presentation comes to an end by showing the latest addition to the TEHRAN REMIXED project: