Aun Gallery is a contemporary art gallery in Iran's capital city Tehran.[1] It is owned and created by Afarin Neyssari.[2] The building offers 120 square meters of open exhibition space, a five-meter high ceiling and a paneled roof.
The Vanak area has been popular with Iranian artists since the early 2000s, at which time it was a quiet residential area with light industry.
Aun's owner, Afarin Neyssari, and her husband Karan Vafadari were arrested in Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Intelligence Service (IRGIS) on 20 July 2016 when she was about to board a plane to travel to Italy in order to jump start an important art project, which was to prepare for Mr. Bizhan Bassiri's solo exhibition at the Venice Biennale festival as approved and certified by the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art and the Minister of Culture. Karan was supposed to join her a few days later on their trip, and to visit his three children who live in the US. Karan received a call from Afarin, and when he went to see her he too was arrested.[3]
Afarin and Karan were held in solitary confinement for over one month, and were not allowed to speak to a lawyer for 5 months. Afarin first spoke to a lawyer when she first showed up in court, 5 months after imprisonment. The Iranian judiciary has coerced the family to dismiss their chosen lawyer multiple times, and as of May 2017, they still have not found a suitable lawyer. As a Zoroastrian, Karan could be another example in a history of confiscation of Zoroastrians' property.[4]
Karan is a US citizen, and Afarin is a Greencard holder. A wave of public support for Karan and Afarin followed, from the artistic community within Iran, as well as from customers and friends of Aun Gallery. Robert Toscano, former ambassador from Italy to Iran, refuted the authorities’ justification for their detention in an open letter, saying that “One has to be truly gullible and the easy victim of propaganda” to accept such charges. He continued, “The reason must be a different one…political blackmail toward the US (of which [she is] also citizens), envy for their success, intimidation toward the Zoroastrian community, desire to grab their properties, [and] repression of contemporary art.”[5]
Aun Gallery has appeared in magazines and publications such as Bidoun,[6] as well as other local and international publications. The gallery also featured in international travel magazine websites and online magazine The Culture Trip.[7]
Aun's artists have exhibited globally.
Artists shown at the gallery include: