Ali Akbar Sadeghi: Animation Films 1971-1975

Kunsthall Stavanger is proud to present a selection of animated films for children (1971-1975) by the Iranian artist Ali Akbar Sadeghi. Sadeghi was born in Teheran in 1937 and began his career in the 1950s. His work has gone through many distinct periods, touching on a wide range of genres and mediums including animation, stained glass, book illustration, furniture, erotic works, sculpture, drawing and oil painting. His work is rooted in the confluence of surrealism and the rich history of Persian miniature painting. This distinct genre of painting was at its zenith between the 10th and the 15th centuries and was originally created to illustrate Persian literary works including epic poetry, moral tales, lyricism, mysticism and panegyric eulogy.

In his animated films, Sadeghi takes these classical themes and re-appropriates them. The war epic is converted into a peaceful tale in which cannonballs, instead of reaching their targets explode into millions of flowers or birds. The concept of the bloody duel is also challenged by two warriors who, when the final fight arrives, choose to escape together on a makeshift boat. In another film, in a dreamlike mise en abyme, the last pieces on a chessboard prefer to sit together around the board and start a new game instead of fighting to the end. The symmetry present in most of his sequences pays homage to the traditional composition of Persian miniatures, while their narrative freedom testify to the penetrating power of the psychedelic movement of the 1960s as well as the legacy of surrealism.

When released in the 1970s, Sadeghi’s films received awards and honours at major international children’s film festivals: Paris International Youth Short Film Festival; Los Angeles International Festival of Children’s Films; Chicago 11th International Film Festival; Virgin Islands International Film Festival; Tehran 9th International Film Festival for Children and Young Adults; and Krakow 12th International Film Festival.