Reimagining Artist Mobility and Cultural Exchange in the Middle East: South–South Possibilities and Obstacles

In the Middle East, artist mobility is never just about physical movement. It means navigating a complex web of barriers: political borders, sanctions, surveillance, suspicion, resource limitations, and entrenched global inequities. Yet in that very friction lies possibility—the chance to forge solidarity, to imagine new pathways, and to reclaim cultural exchange on its own terms.

I use the term Middle East with critical awareness. This essay centers on South–South artistic mobility within and between these regions, examining the opportunities and obstacles of building dialogue among neighbors who share histories, struggles, and cultural threads, but are too often kept apart by politics and policy.

A First Encounter with South–South Exchange

My journey into this space began in 2007. I had moved from my hometown, Qazvin, to Tehran a few years earlier, drawn by the energy of a larger art scene and a desire to explore what lay beyond my immediate environment. I was experimenting with staged imagery and concept-driven work when I first heard about artist residencies: spaces where artists from different mediums and cultures could meet not just to show work, but to collaborate and think together.

At the time, international opportunities were barely visible online. Still, I found my way to an International Artists’ Workshop in Kashmir, India, hosted by KHOJ, a South Asian partner of the Triangle Network. It brought together an equal number of international and local artists in an open, process-focused environment. Working side by side across disciplines and languages, I experienced firsthand the transformative potential of artistic exchange.

The question followed me home: Why don’t we have programs like this in Iran? Why are so few Iranian artists present in these conversations?

Building in a Space of Constraints

The answers weren’t simply logistical. In Iran, organizing any international program meant navigating state suspicion, political risk, and the absence of supportive infrastructure. Still, a group of us decided to act. We founded Rybon Art Center in 2008 as an experimental collective—a platform for innovation and critical exchange, beyond ethnic or regional boundaries.

Through contacts from earlier workshops, I was introduced to the director of the Triangle Network. Around the same time, I traveled to Ghana for another Triangle Network workshop, where I met Alessio Antoniolli in person to discuss bringing the model to Iran. Without funding—and with foreign grants effectively off-limits—we planned our first program using local networks and personal resources.

We made our first attempt in 2009, but the constraints proved too great. In 2011, I joined the Triangle Network’s “Knowledge Sharing Program” for directors of member art centers. In Karachi, I spent two weeks with artist, curator, and Vasl Artists' Collective director Adeela Suleman. Despite facing similar constraints, they had managed to run sustained exchange programs for years.

This experience was eye-opening. The exchange—and the insights into their strategies—proved invaluable, giving us the tools and determination to succeed where our first attempt had failed.

The First South–South Residency in Iran

In 2012, we finally hosted Iran’s first Triangle Network–format program: the Rybon International Artists’ Workshop. We invited artists from Lebanon, Jordan, India, China, and several African countries, building relationships grounded in mutual recognition.

First Rybon International Artists’ Workshop, artists working in shared spaces, Tehran, 2012.
Photo by Ali Ranjbaran

That same year, we launched our first artist residency program, inviting Pakistani artist, curator, and Vasl co-founder Naiza Khan. My time in Pakistan and her presence in Iran deepened our conversations. We realized that despite being neighbors, Iran and Pakistan knew little of each other’s contemporary art scenes, an absence shaped by politics, history, and a gaze historically oriented toward Europe.

We even proposed bringing to the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art an exhibition that Naiza had curated of contemporary Pakistani artists in Karachi. While the plan never materialized, it reinforced our determination not to give up and to find new strategies to expand South–South conversations.

Given the short visa durations and scarce resources, we developed the Rybon Exchange Program—an adaptable model created in partnership with Organhaus, a Chinese artist residency. These exchanges were not supported by governments or large institutions; they were intentional, sustained by shared resources, and designed to turn constraints into new opportunities for artists on both sides.

Expanding the Vision: Kooshk Artist Residency

These experiences inspired a larger vision: to establish an official, structured residency that could position Iran as a hub for regional and global art exchanges—a place where artists from across the globe could meet, exchange, collaborate, and build lasting connections.

With my spouse, artist, and curator Negin Mahzoun, and with the support of a leading Tehran cultural supporter, alongside the efforts of a dedicated team and local collaborators, we launched Kooshk Artist Residency, the first of its kind in Iran, with an international scope. Kooshk carried forward the Rybon Exchange Program, prioritizing not only the West but also Asia, Africa, and the Middle East—linking Iran to its region and the wider world.

First Kooshk Artist Residency building, downtown Tehran, 2014.
Photo by Hamidreza Lotfian

The Invisible Barriers

For our exchange programs, we partnered with artist residencies worldwide, prioritizing regional ties. As the work unfolded, hidden barriers began to surface.

One Pakistani artist selected for the Kooshk Annual Award withdrew after her lawyer warned that an Iranian visa stamp could complicate her UK visa application. This scenario repeated itself several times. I faced the same issue when traveling to Afghanistan, warned that the stamp could harm my chances for a U.S. or UK visa.

Such moments made clear how sanctions, global security policies, and visa regimes fracture regional relationships. These pressures don’t just limit access to the West—they actively discourage collaboration between neighboring countries.

A Regional Gathering and an Ending

In 2016, after joining the board of Res Artis, the world’s largest network of artist residencies, we brought its first annual meeting in the Middle East to Tehran. Residency directors and cultural leaders from across the region—and beyond—gathered under the theme “Roots and Routes: Challenges and Opportunities of Connectivity”, affirming that intra-regional dialogue was both possible and necessary.

One outcome was the establishment of a Res Artis regional office in Tehran, aimed at connecting residency directors across MENASA and launching regional exchange programs for residency managers. However, the pandemic forced its closure, and a few years later, political shifts and renewed pressure on international programs in Iran brought Kooshk Artist Residency to an end as well, despite its significant local and international impact.

Res Artis Annual Meeting hosted by Kooshk Artist Residency, panel discussion, Tehran, 2016.
Photo by Hosein Mousavi

Seeds for Future South–South Pathways

Looking back, Kooshk’s life lasted eight years—far longer than most initiatives of its kind in such a tense political climate. We designed and executed exchanges through varied partnerships aimed at breaking Iranian art’s isolation, prioritizing South–South connections alongside exchanges beyond the region. In doing so, it also provided dozens of Iranian artists with international opportunities they might never have otherwise experienced.

These years taught me that “mobility” in the Middle East is never just about moving from one place to another. It is a constant negotiation with power structures, visa policies, sanctions, and sometimes our ingrained preferences for Western validation. Still, beginnings matter. Even a short-lived program can plant seeds that others might one day grow—across the South, and across the borders drawn to keep us apart.

The necessity of South–South dialogue in the MENASA region is grounded in centuries of shared history. Long before modern borders, artists, poets, and scholars moved freely along trade and pilgrimage routes, carrying ideas from the Maghreb to the Indus Valley. These circulations shaped deep cultural affinities—visible in language, aesthetics, and social traditions—that remain vital today.

In recent years, parts of the Gulf region have demonstrated how resources, infrastructure, and relative political openness can create ambitious platforms for cultural exchange. Countries such as the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia are making substantial investments in art and culture. While approaches differ, these initiatives are uniquely positioned to shift the regional focus toward building stronger South–South pathways—and to play a pivotal role in shaping the discourse for years to come.