This exhibition attempts to bring a wider audience into contact with artworks that is hard to see, with the aim of being emotive and questioning. It is an effort to present a culture with common concerns with the West, but differing approaches. The works are personal and specific; they present different interpretations of contemporary artistic creativity, composing a unique and authentic world of thoughts and emotions. They reveal a sensitivity and mental freedom, expressed in refined manners frequently with a sharp sense of humor. The works go beyond realism and they carry a fantastical element bringing forward an unexpectedly different perspective.

The title, Lion under the rainbow, is borrowed from a painting by Vahid Sharifan. It comes as a contradiction to what one expects to hear when Iran is mentioned. It is poetic and political simultaneously.

Alexandros Georgiou stayed in Tehran for a long period of time and his research resulted in the idea of this exhibition which includes nineteen artists from differing disciplines (painting, photography, video, performance, music, poetry) and from varying generations: Reza Abedini (graphic design), Shokoufeh Alidousti (photography), Mahmoud Bakhshi-Moakhar (installation/video), Reza Bangiz (painting), Ali Chitsaz (painting), Farshad Fozouni (music), Amirali Ghasemi (video, performance), Bahman Jalali (photography), Rana Javadi (photography), Katayoun Karami (photography), Ali Hossein Khan (sculpture), Mehran Mohajer (photography), Majid Ma'soumi Rad (video), Neda Razavipour (video, drawings), Mamali Shafahi & Behrouz Raei (performance, photography), Rozita Sharaf Jahan (video), Vahid Sharifian (painting, installation) and Jinoos Taghizadeh (performance).

The poster/invitation is designed by Reza Abedini and the trilingual catalogue (Farsi, English and Greek) by Farhad Fozouni. The exhibition venue is the 4th & 5th floors of a building at 48-50 Aiolou Street, a space that is used for the fist time for a visual art event.

In the framework of ART ATHINA 2008 there will be performances by Amirali Ghasemi (22/5 >> 19:00-21:00 . 23/5, 24/5 & 25/5 >> 18:00-20:00), Mamali Shafahi & Behrouz Raei (22/5 >> 21:00-21:45. 23/5, 24/5 & 25/5 >> 18:00-19:00) and Jinoos Taghizadeh(22/5 >> 22:00-22:15). On the occasion of the exhibition a panel discussion will take place with key speakers Roger Buergel, Catherine David, Marina Fokidis and Ruth Noack on the subject "center and periphery, in relation to the art market". Also, Amirali Ghasemi and Neda Razavipour will present the Tehran art scene.

Website Designed by Amirali Ghasemi and Shahb Tondar