Minneapolis, MN
National cigarettes, banned pop songs and memory oceans: Minneapolis Iranian artists show work about diaspora
In the underground gallery of the Q.arma Building in northeast Minneapolis, there is a line of giant stubbed-out cigarettes, all of them glossy and hard ceramic.
Nearby are watercolor prints of Persian calligraphy featuring lyrics by female Iranian pop artists who worked in exile after the Iranian Revolution of 1979. In a back room, artist Shirin Ghoraishi places a virtual reality headset on visitors, chaperoning them through an ocean horizon that leads to a subway car.
This is the show, “So Far, So Close,” featuring Ghoraishi, Ziba Rajabi and Katayoun Amjadi. The artists were all born in Iran.
Artist Shirin Ghoraishi, here with curator and artist Ziba Rajabi, guides guests through her VR experience inspired by dreams and memory. Courtesy of Drew Arrieta
“We all have been living outside of Iran for years,” says Rajabi, who also curated the show. “This is an exhibition that explores the complicated experience of displacement from the motherland through themes of space, distance and memory by three Iranian female artists.”
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The exhibition was funded by the Twin Cities Iranian Culture Collective and the Minnesota Humanities Center.
Rajabi’s works are the series of watercolor calligraphy. In her artist statement, Rajabi explains that in “the ‘80s and ‘90s, the Islamic regime banned pop music, and the only art and music allowed were war propaganda.”
The pop songs she references in her work come from Iranian artists whose work was smuggled into the country on tapes or VHS. For this show, she focuses on the music of Leila Forouhar, an Iranian woman who fled Iran in the 80s.
The “Forget to Fly” series by artist-curator Ziba Rajabi uses watercolor monotypes of Persian calligraphy “employing verses from pop songs by Iranian female singers who lived and worked in exile after the 1979 [Iranian] Revolution.”
Courtesy of Drew Arrieta
“Her experience of exile was similar,” Rajabi says.
Ghoraishi created a VR experience about reality, dreams and memory and where these areas overlap.
“The audience will see an ocean that is a representation of dreams and memories, which doesn’t mean they are true or not true,” Ghoraishi says. “Sometimes memory tricks us. We remember something that didn’t exist before.”
Ghoraishi ends the user experience by placing them in front of a full-length mirror in a dim room.
“This final moment is a necessary reminder that as an immigrant, we are shaped by what we remember of our past and what we have had to forget,” Ghoraishi says. “The mirror reflects not only the self but the constant negotiation of one’s identity.”
A still from the virtual reality experience “Echoes and Fragments” created by Minneapolis artist Shirin Ghoraishi.
Courtesy of Shirin Ghoraishi
Amjadi created the nine giant ceramic cigarettes. The rest of her installation includes silkscreen prints of cigarette packs as well as two actual cigarette packs encased in a clear box. “Two ordinary cigarette packs picked up from newsstands in Tehran and Jerusalem,” Amjadi wrote in her artist statement.
The brands are Bahman, the national cigarette of Iran, and Alia, a cigarette brand from Palestine that is sold in Israel.
Amjadi says her art investigates “how objects carry memory, and the objects that we collect, especially as souvenirs that we bring from one place to another, are signifiers of memory, nostalgia and also identity are embedded in them.”
Bahman, Amjadi explains, is Farsi for “snow avalanche” and is also the word for February, the month of the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
“Bahman is the month of revolution, a 1979 revolution in Iran that, in a sense, caused the Iranian diaspora,” Amjadi says. “So me and my friends right here would not be here if that event would not have taken place.”
Minneapolis-based Iranian artists Katayoun Amjadi, Shirin Ghoraishi and Ziba Rajabi with moderator Aida Shahghasemi at the opening of the show “So Far So Close” at the Q.arma Underground Gallery in northeast Minneapolis.
Courtesy of Alaleh Naderi
Alia is the Arabic word for “exalted.” Amjadi says it also has the meaning of a return to the Holy Land for the Jewish people. (Aliyah means “ascent” in Hebrew and is used in Judaism to represent both the act of being called to read from the Hebrew Bible and the act of immigrating to Israel.)
“Which is a reverse diaspora but causes another diaspora, a Palestinian diaspora,” she says. “I’m interested in the desires and yearnings of one population for a homeland, for belonging to a place, and how it causes another group to be displaced, and the parities between these diasporas in a way.”
Gallery hours are 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays through Tuesdays. Visitors can do the virtual reality experience Saturdays and Sundays from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. The exhibition will have a closing reception on Sept. 21.
“You will expose yourself to things that most of the public won’t see, except maybe once in their life. But yep, we’re doing it. Fire departments are doing it on a very regular basis,” said Mike Dobesh, president of MNFire, an organization dedicated to keeping firefighters healthy, mentally and physically, and on the job.
“The fire service is recognizing that any of those unexpected events that we go to, yes, we sign up to do it, but at the same time, those unexpected events can cause trauma; that trauma can lead to PTSD,” Dobesh said.
However, paying for all those firefighters on mandatory PTSD leave is putting the Minneapolis Fire Department in the red. It’s all the overtime needed to fill in for the firefighters on leave.
“From the therapists that I’ve talked to, usually eight to 10 visits can get that firefighter back on the rig,” Dobesh said, which is the goal of the mandatory leave with treatment. “But then it’s going to be something that’s going to have to be managed for the… probably the rest of their career, because it’s not something that’s just going to go away.”
Dobesh says that PTSD was the number one claim MNFire had on its critical illness policy last year.
In 2023, Minnesota lawmakers created the PTSD leave policy in an effort to keep firefighters from applying for permanent duty disability benefits. The policy requires firefighters and other first responders to take up to 32 weeks of paid leave and get treatment first.
“A trauma-informed therapist can meet with a firefighter, desensitize that firefighter, get them back to work,” Dobesh said.
But that policy is costing some fire departments millions. The Minneapolis Fire Department told the city council this week that 7% to 8% of its firefighters are currently out on PTSD leave, and the overtime other firefighters are working to fill in for them has put the department up to $7 million over budget in recent years. It’s projected to go over again this year.
So what are things they can do to maybe prevent some of these problems that they’re having because of PTSD? Speed up access to treatment, according to Dobesh.
“The sooner we can get in and have that firefighter seen, the more likely they’re going to have a very positive outcome and get back on the job,” he said.
Dobesh says if and when a firefighter needs help varies from person to person, but his organization provides five free treatment sessions for any firefighter who’s struggling.
Minnesota firefighters can call MnFIRE’s helpline 24/7 at 888-784-6634 or visit mnfirehealth.org.
MFD Interim Chief Melanie Rucker shared the following statement late Wednesday night:
“The utilization of these leaves is often unavoidable and reflects benefits that support the health and well-being of our fire personnel. We take the health and wellness very seriously, including mental health. Through transparent communication with leadership regarding evolving staffing needs and necessary overtime budget adjustments, we can effectively address the budget overages and return to a sustainable path forward.”
Click here to watch the Minneapolis Budget Committee meeting on May 4.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey signed a new ordinance that carries a ban on assault weapons but won’t take effect unless there are major changes to state law.
Minneapolis gun ban ordinance signed
What we know:
The Minneapolis City Council approved the ordinance during its meeting last week.
The firearm regulations ordinance includes a ban on assault weapons, ghost guns, binary triggers, and high-capacity magazines. The ordinance also includes safe storage provisions for firearms.
Big picture view:
Many of the provisions in the law won’t go into effect unless there is a change in state law. Currently, Minnesota law prevents municipalities from enacting gun regulations.
Minnesota law only allows cities to bar the discharge of firearms within city limits and adopt regulations that are identical to state laws. Any regulations that go beyond state law are voided, according to state statute.
Local perspective:
Action on the gun ordinance was spurred by last year’s shooting at Annunciation Church and School. Two students were killed while attending morning mass at the church and more than two dozen students and parishioners were hurt in the barrage of gunfire.
Last week, parents of Annunciation students spoke out in support of the ordinance at a public hearing.
Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus threatens lawsuit
The other side:
Last year, St. Paul passed a similar law. The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus filed a lawsuit shortly after the ordinance was signed. Arguments were heard last month on the case and a judge has set a trial for next year.
In a statement last week, the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus said it was evaluating its legal options in Minneapolis.
Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus Chair Bryan Strawser said:
“The City of Minneapolis is attempting to make a political statement with an ordinance it has no legal authority to enact. Minnesota law clearly preempts the entire field of firearms regulation, and local governments cannot simply ignore state statute because they dislike the policy outcome.
“If the City Council moves forward with this unlawful ordinance, we will evaluate every available legal option to challenge it, just as we did in Saint Paul.
“The law is not optional, even for Minneapolis.”
A man was hurt in a shooting in south Minneapolis late Tuesday night, according to police.
A report of shots fired brought officers to the 2600 block of Third Avenue South around 9:50 p.m., the Minneapolis Police Department said. They found evidence of gunfire and began investigating.
Later, a man with survivable gunshot wounds showed up at Hennepin Healthcare.
No one has been arrested.
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