Abbas Zahedi is a London based artist, known for his interdisciplinary blend of social practice, performance, installation, moving-image, institution-building and writing. His practice emerged out of working with migrant and marginalised communities in the UK to explore the concept of neo-diaspora, and the ways in which personal and collective histories interweave.
Current Solo Exhibition
- How To Make A How From A Why?, Fire Station, South London Gallery, 2020.
Selected Group Exhibitions
- B, Belmacz, London, 2019
- Degree Show, Central Saint Martins, London, 2019
- The Age of New Babylon, Lethaby Gallery, London, 2018
- Diaspora
Pavilion, Wolverhampton Art Gallery, 2018 - °c, clearview.ltd, London, 2018
- Pressure Makes Diamonds, Rich Mix, London, 2018
- appetite, Apiary Studios, London, 2018
- Diaspora Pavilion, Palazzo Pisani a Santa Marina, Venice, 2017
- rb&hArts, Royal Brompton Hospital, London, 2008
Performances / Interventions
- Long Table: Lament, South London Gallery, 2020
- AMRA, Spike Island, Bristol, 2019
- Rose & STEMM, Guest Projects, London, 2019
- Words that We Share, BLOCK UNIVERSE, Whitechapel Gallery, London, 2019
- Outset Grant Ceremony, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2019
- The Conch, curated by Cédric Fauq, South London Gallery, 2019
- Of Other Futures, Lethaby Gallery, London, 2018
- Metaphonica IV, Mercury KX Records, CSM, London, 2018
- The Boulevard, Tate Britain, London, 2018
- Studio Jum’ah, Tate Exchange, London, 2018
- Will there be Hipsters in Heaven?, Rabbit’s Road Press, 2018
- 24h Livestream Residency, Youtube & King’s Cross, London, 2018
- Diaspora Pavilion, Closing Program, Venice, 2017
- Sonic Soundings, curated by Erika Tan, Online & Venice, 2017
- Standing Block, Burlington Camden, Lincoln Projects, London, 2017
- #FakeBooze, Diaspora Pavilion, Venice, 2017
- Reading with Q&A, Bradford Literature Festival, 2015
Screenings
- Body Politics and Mental Territory, DOCLISBOA, Lisbon, 2019
- Beyond the Body curated by Mania Akbari, Wolf Cinema, Berlin, 2019
- Diaspora Pavilion Closing Program, Venice, 2017
Fellowships / Residencies / Projects
- Postgraduate Artist in Residence, South London Gallery, 2019/2020
- An Alternative Map of the Universe, ICF x Guest Projects, London, 2019
- Co:Lab Residency, The Centre for Transnational Art, Identity and Nation (TrAIN), London, 2019/2020
- Live Archive, New Art Exchange, Nottingham, 2018
- Agents of Creative Change, Battersea Arts Centre, London, 2018
- Formerly Called, Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridge, 2018
- Asia Art Activism Research Network, Raven Row, London, 2018
- BARBEDOUN via Square Root Soda Works, London, 2015 – 2017
- Belief & Conflict Forum, Kings College London, 2014-2015
- Rumi’s Cave: Director & Resident Artist, London, 2013 – 2015
- Fish Bar Symposium, Grove Fish Bar, London, 2010 – 2017
Awards
- Thinking Time, Artangel, UK, 2020
- Jerwood Arts Bursary, 2019
- Aziz Foundation Academic Scholarship, 2018
- Khadijah Saye Memorial Fund Scholarship, 2017
- Dounie Trust Scholarship, 2017
- School for Social Entrepreneurs Fellowship, 2017
- UCL Union Centenary Social Colours, 2008
Academic
- MA Photography, Fine Art Programme, Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, 2017-2019 – Merit
- MBBS Medicine, University College London, 2007-2012 – discontinued due to personal hardship.
- BSc. Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London, 2002-2006 – first class honours, Dean’s list & faculty prize.
Teaching
- Visiting Lecturer, Sculpture MA, Royal College of Art, UK, 2020
- Visiting Tutor, MFA, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK, 2020
Interviews / Press / Publications / Writing
- News: Artangel: Thinking Time, The Guardian, 2020
- Interview: The Suite (212) Sessions with Juliet Jacques, 2020
- Essay: Transactional Objects Full of Contexts in Voided Sites, Cedric Fauq, Mousse Magazine 71, Winter 2020
- Review: How to Make a How from a Why?, The White Pube, 2020
- Featured: Artist To Watch: Abbas Zahedi, Contemporary Art Society, 2020
- Review: AMRA, Spike Island, Amy Grace, Bristol24/7, November 2019
- Essay: Curating for the Age of Blackness, Cedriq Fauq, Mousse Magazine 66, Winter 2019
- Interview: SINK.SEXY x Abbas Zahedi, 2019
- Review: ME, MYSELF & A I I I (2017), by curator Laura O’Leary, 2018
- Letter: British artists lament the value of art in schools, The Guardian, 2018
- News: Diaspora
Pavilion| Venice to Wolverhampton, E-Flux, February 2018 - Spotlight: Diaspora
Pavilion, Art Quarterly [ArtFund], Spring 2018 - News: Transforming an artist’s studio for prayer, Art Radar Journal, January 2018
- Interview: Jum’ah at the Tate: Abbas Zahedi, Amaliah.com, January 2018
- Opinion: Arts + Culture with Kazim Rashid, DAZED, January 2017
- Letter: Artists demand swift justice for Grenfell victims, The Guardian, 2017
- Television: Venice Biennale, Britain’s New Voices, BBC Two, 2017
- News: Diaspora Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, Contemporary Art Society, 2017
- Television: Peter Yorke’s Hipster Handbook, BBC Four, 2016
- Feature: BARBEDOUN, Huffington Post, 2015
- Featured: OOMK zine, ISSUE 2: PRINT, 2013
- Featured: Cultural Crossroads, Roxane Zand, Sotheby’s Blog, December 2012
