Raheleh Filsoofi and Eric André: From Common Clay

On View: September 13, 2024–January 25, 2025

Two artists—one from Iran and one from Ghana—explore the intersections of common themes and questions affecting us all. Each artist has common roots in traditional clay practice, but also work outside these traditions and materials to explore dynamics in our collective contemporary socio-cultural and political fabric. The artists are passionate ceramic educators who create from a common recognition that in order to heal, wounds must be acknowledged, and that art is central to this process. Curated by Patrick Noze, Senior Gallery Curator.

Raheleh Filsoofi
Iranian-born artist Raheleh Filsoofi is a collector of soil and sound, an itinerant artist, feminist curator, and community service advocate. Her work synthesizes socio-political statements as a point of departure and further challenges these fundamental arguments by incorporating ancient and contemporary media such as ceramics, poetry, ambient sound, and video.

Her interdisciplinary practices act as the interplay between the literal and figurative contexts of land, ownership, immigration, and border. Her current and recent exhibitions include Imagined Boundaries, an interactive multimedia installation at Gibbes Museum in Charleston, SC (2023-2024), Diphtheria, a multimedia installation at Atlanta Contemporary in Atlanta, GA (2023), Only Sound Remains, an interactive multimedia installation at the Sharjah Biennial 15, and Thinking Historically in the Present in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (2023). Filsoofi’s Imagined Boundaries, a multimedia installation, consisting of two separate exhibitions, debuted concurrently in a solo exhibition at the Abad Gallery in Tehran and group exhibition Dual Frequency at the Art and Culture Center of Hollywood, Florida. The installation in each country connected audiences in the U.S. and Iran for a few hours in the night of the show opening.

She has been the 2022 Winner of the 1858 Contemporary Southern Art Award and the recipient of the 2021 Southern Prize Tennessee State Fellowship. She is an Assistant Professor of Ceramics in the Department of Art at Vanderbilt University. She holds an M.F.A. in Fine Arts from Florida Atlantic University and a B.F.A. in Ceramics from Al-Zahra University in Tehran, Iran.

Eric André
Eric André is from the Ashanti Region, Ghana in West Africa. His practice explores immigrants’ experiences of displacement, vulnerability, and negotiation of place to challenge the ubiquitous and complex sociocultural, sociopolitical, and socioeconomic control systems. As an interdisciplinary artist, educated in Ghana and the US, he has had the opportunity to work in cross-cultural artistic environments and gain broad multimedia experience. He has held numerous solo exhibitions and his works have been included in group exhibitions in Ghana and many venues across the United States.

His most recent exhibitions include The Systemic Punches: Displacement Experience of the Vulnerable Immigrant at Arts On Main in Van Buren and FNAR Gallery, School of Art at the University of Arkansas, in Fayetteville, Arkansas (2021, 2023); Stetson University Faculty Biennial Exhibition at the Hand Art Center in Deland, Florida (2023); The Fear of the Fearless, Main Gallery by CACHE in Springdale Arkansas (2023); and The Medium is The Message: The African Diaspora Story at the Taylor Hall Gallery, University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware (2021).

He holds an MFA from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and a BFA from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana, where he became a Teaching and Research Assistant and a Principal Lab/Studio Technician in the Ceramics Department. Eric also worked as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Arkansas and the Curator at Art for Ventures Gallery in Fayetteville. Most recently, he has been the Visiting Assistant Professor of Studio Art at Stetson University in DeLand and is now Visiting Assistant Professor of 3D Studio Art at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. As a Visiting Instructor at Crealdé, Eric has taught workshops and conducted ceramic demonstrations and a presentation on the meaning of art in Ghanian culture at the 2023 FusionFest! Orlando.

Ceramic Rhythms and Community:
Workshop with Raheleh and Reza Filsoofi

Workshop:
Friday, January 10, 2025
10 am–4 pm

Saturday, January 11, 2025
10 am – 2 pm

Performance & Drum Circle:
Saturday, January 11, 2025
7 pm (Location TBA)

In conjunction with the exhibition, Raheleh and her husband Reza will conduct a two-day hands-on weekend workshop at Crealdé School of Art, teaching the art of crafting clay darbuka drums using traditional techniques, culminating in a drum circle performance that weaves together clay and music to foster cultural connection, collective identity, and community healing. While the ceramic drum bases will be pre-formed, the process of creating the drum—from construction to decoration—will be covered.

The workshop will take place at Crealdé’s main campus on Friday, January 10, 2025, 10 am–4 pm, and Saturday, January 11, 2025, 10 am – 2 pm.  The performance and drum circle will occur on Saturday, January 11, 2025, at 7 pm. Workshop space is limited, and the Saturday performance is open to the public. See Crealde.org under ceramic workshops to register.

Reza Filsoofi
Reza Filsoofi is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer born in Tehran, Iran. He plays santoor, setar, and principal percussive instruments such as daf and tonbak. Filsoofi commenced his musical journey in Iran under the tutelage of master musicians such as Zarrabian, Shoaari, and Arash Farhangfar and under the supervision of the great master Naser Farhangfar. He has performed with masters such as Davood Azad, Faramarz Aslani, and Ardeshir Farah. His collaboration with Davood Azad in 2015 at the Asia Society and Museum in New York City and at the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat in the Bahamas has been his milestone professional achievement.

Since moving to the U.S. in 2001, his versatile abilities and extensive musical knowledge have given him opportunities to collaborate, as a teacher and performer, with diverse artists and musicians such as Susana Behar (Cuban Singer) and Jose Louis De la Paz (Spanish composer and Flamenco Guitar Player), the Trio FEZ; the Middle-Eastern Music Performance with Joe Zeytounian (American-Armenian Musician) and Myriam Eli (Cuban Performer).

Filsoofi Ensemble Inspiration
The Filsoofi ensemble celebrates diversity and individual contributions while emphasizing the versatility of Middle Eastern music in shaping the soundscape of the region. The couple seeks to engage diverse individuals to collaborate through music and ceramics, creating a sensory experience that establishes a sense of shared identity and common purpose.

For over eight years, Raheleh and Reza Filsoofi have been at the forefront of socially engaged practices as visual artists and musicians, fostering unity among people from diverse cultural backgrounds. Their collaborative efforts have spanned across South Florida, Texas, and Tennessee, where they’ve not only worked alongside fellow artists and musicians but also offered support to each other’s practices. Identifying as cultural ambassadors, their mission is to elevate awareness and mindfulness, acting as instruments for cultural communication, adaptability, and mutual understanding. The performances and workshops intend to broaden participants’ knowledge and understanding of Middle Eastern and specifically Iranian music and its ethos. It provides unique educational and performance opportunities for the community. The performance showcases the dynamic aspects of Middle Eastern music, its capacity to integrate with other musical genres, and the potency of its contribution to the soundscape of the United States.

Below are photographs that depict a recent collaborative experience created by the artist-couple, held at both Austin Peay State University in 2022 and Vanderbilt University in 2023 entitled Listening: The Fourth String. The project introduces an interactive and experiential instrument and platform called ShahTár (شه تار) through public performances that re-imagine the silenced existence of the Iranian musician and Sufi Moshtagh Ali Shah, from18th century Iran, and emphasizes his historic contributions to the Iranian music. The project pays homage to Moshtagh because, despite his significant contribution, he has been excluded from Iranian musical history due to his religious beliefs and his use of the setar in the reciting of the Quran and call for the prayer, which was considered blasphemous and led to his death by stoning. The fourth string, which he introduced, remains on the setar today as a testament to his cultural innovation and courage.

Additional background information on the work of Raheleh and Reza’s inspiration:

This exhibition, workshop and performance are funded in part through Orange County Government through the Arts & Cultural Affairs and by a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the State of Florida Division of Arts & Culture.