Sadegh Tirafkan

Who was Sadegh Tirafkan?

Sadegh Tirafkan was an Iranian contemporary artist who lived mainly in Tehran, Iran.

Tirafkan was six years of age his family fled the country before the start of the Islamic revolution. His family returned to Tehran where he grew up. As a young man, Tirafkan fought in the eight-year long Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s as a Basiji or conscripted soldier. The artist works is characterised by a strong emphasis on the intrinsic role of the male in traditional Iranian society. Tirafkan employs different media in his work: photography, video installation, and collage. He graduated from Tehran University with a degree in Photography in 1989 and has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions worldwide.

Tirafkan's work includes "Manhood", which deals with the perception of masculinity in Persian culture. Other projects such as "Persepolis", "Ashoura", "Secret of Words", "Iranian Man", "Whispers of the East", "The Loss of Our Identity", "Multitude" and "Devotion" deal with Iranian history, identity, sociopolitical, religious and gender issues.

His works are in the collections of several museums including the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, British Museum, Brooklyn Museum and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.