Tirdad Hashemi & Soufia Erfanian
After having hosted the artist Céleste Rogosin, the Pinault Collection has invited the Iranian duo Tirdad Hashemi & Soufia Erfanian to take up residency in Lens and to create a new work, starting in October 2024.
Born in 1991 in Tehran, Iran, Tirdad Hashemi lives and works between Paris and Berlin. Whether on paper or canvas, often in small formats and depending on the means at hand, Tirdad Hashemi creates tenuous spaces where unspeakable desires are born, overflow, and mingle. A community of individuals without borders and coming from multiple cultures arises. The scenes depicted become the territory of those that live in the margins and who struggle. Their protagonists “share lasting insomnias, weighty anxieties and common f ights, claiming their right to exist, at least on paper”, Tirdad Hashemi explains. The artist uses drawing to cultivate a practice that depicts a kind of “theatre for the struggle against intolerance”, by tackling the dominant societal, familial, and religious claims to truth. According to their own terms, the artist is not “an activist that dwells in the streets, but an activist who has chosen a lifestyle”. In the awareness of the conditions in his native country, Tirdad Hashemi sees art as the only place where they can express themself fully.
Soufia Erfanian is an emerging artist living in Berlin. Born in 1990 in Marshad, Iran, she made the decision to immigrate to Germany ten years ago. Since then, she has been constantly on the move, living in different cities and numerous apartments. This perpetual change has shaped her understanding of the concept of “home,” leading her to explore its significance through her art. Soufia Erfanian’s artistic journey has been influenced by her studies in architecture at Azad University in Mashhad and mechanical engineering at the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences. However, it was in art that she found her true calling, using it as a means of survival and expression beyond the confines of time, place, and societal expectations. At the core of Erfanian’s art lies a deep yearning for human connection. Her paintings are a reflection of the stories, emotions, and struggles of people, in which she distills these experiences, stripping away unnecessary details to reveal the essence of human emotions. In the dynamic and ever-changing world she navigates, Erfanian’s art continues to resonate, inviting viewers to reflect on their own experiences of home, belonging, and shared humanity.
“During this year of residency, Soufia and I plan to focus on our relationships with the outside world. Being away from others in this city emphasises the importance of maintaining connections through letters, calls, and focusing on long-distance relationships”
Located in a former rectory, the Pinault Collection’s artist’s residency was inaugurated in December 2015. As a place to live and work, it provides time and space for artistic practice at a site that is well-suited for creating things. Residents are chosen by a selection committee that includes representatives from Pinault Collection, the Grand Large FRAC, Le Fresnoy School for Contemporary Art, the Louvre Lens, and the Lille Art Museum, or LaM.