Iranian Fantazy
Gilad Bar’s fantastical conception of Tehran, constructed through fictional mid-century artifacts, souvenirs, and everyday items like cigarettes and legal tender- presented as if they were seen or collected on a vacation that cannot occur in reality.
Q&A with Massoud Hayoun, Author of When We Were Arabs
My Jewishness governs matters of the spirit, for me. I do also stand with Jewish Americans in practical matters, particularly at moments when our lives, dignity, and freedom are under siege. But in this life, I am Arab first and last.
Hashish: A (Jewish) History
The use of hashish and cannabis in Jewish tradition is controversial, to say the least. The Tanakh includes numerous mentions of a grain or spice called qaneh-bosem— described as an “aromatic grass,” which is exactly what I would call cannabis.
Ode to a Color
Persian blue. I always wondered why the color blue got assigned to sadness, or reflection, but I remember the ocean and the sky and I get small again—get context—and understand it more. Oh, he’s feeling blue. My grandma, sitting at the head of the table, tells me the sky and the sea are different where she grew up.
Stories of Life as a Jewish Gymnast in Iran
Before my mother and her family fled Iran, she spent her years in Tehran as a competitive female gymnast. Her team was the first Iranian gymnastics group to qualify for the Pan-Asian games and they performed for the Shah’s White Revolutionary Ceremony. This collection of photos and recently-collected testimonies explores her experiences as a Jewish competitive athlete tasked with balancing her passion and her identity.
Pan-What?/The Political Legacy of Defining Ethnicity in the Middle East
The concept of ethnic identity has come to serve as a tool for rousing political or ideological fervor over time. The potential of such movements to foster unity is often just as strong as their potential to be weaponized, which is more than enough reason to analyze the effects of politicizing ethnic affiliations.
Tavoos / طاووس
Tavoos is a collection of fragments. A sentimental relic of cultural images, both real and imagined, both in America and in Iran. Nostalgia for a place that I have never seen, yet know and remember deeply. Family photos, film stills, and symbolic imagery, hand transferred using a printing press, layered with Farsi phrases that endure in my memory, sewn together with silk thread.
Khoda Hafez / خداحافظ
Completed between December 2017 and May 2018, this painting draws upon traditional portraits of female dancers and musicians in Qajar-era Iran while also incorporating a lush vocabulary of symbolism. Levy patches together a pulsating landscape of naturalistic biblical Jewish motifs, images drawn from memory, and references to her personal life.
Old Middle East / מזרח תיכון ישן
This series of prints and etchings draws upon representations of “blessing” in Judaism, exploring biblical imagery, traditional mystical beliefs, and facets of religious practice. The work also serves as a sociocultural commentary on male sexuality and interaction in a Mizrahi-Sephardi Israeli context.
Calling In
A comic about mental health stigmas in the Persian Jewish community, as discussed over Dr. Holakouee’s radio show in my grandma’s car.