Aman Mojadidi
Born: Jacksonville, Florida, 1971 - Afghan
Kabul, Afghanistan
Mobile: +93 (0) 798 982522 / Afghanistan + Int'l Roam
Email: aman@wearyourrespirator.com
Education
2003 MA Honors, Cultural Anthropology – Conflict & Cultural Politics of Identity
1998 BA Honors, Cultural Anthropology – Third World Aid & Development
Exhibitions
2011 The Coming Insurrection (group); Traffic Gallery, Dubai, UAE
2011 Goodbye Homeland (solo); Galerie Nikki Diana Marquardt, Paris, France
2011 The State: Social / Antisocial (group); Traffic Gallery, Dubai, UAE
2011 Freedom to Create 2010 Exhibition (group); National Gallery, Bosnia and Herzegovina
2011 Freedom to Create 2010 Exhibition (group); Galerie Mirchandanit + Steinreucke, Mumbai, India
2011 ZAT! (Zones Artistiques Temporaires) - installation dans l'espace urbaine: a collaboration with Emeric Lhuisset; Curated by Pascal Lebrun Cordier, (Parc Meric) Montpellier, France
2011 MENASA Studio Dispatches (group); The Island and Art Dubai Special Projects; Art Dubai 2011, Dubai, UAE
2011 Freedom to Create 2010 Exhibition (group); Ana Tzarev Gallery, NYC, America
2010 Freedom to Create 2010 Exhibition (group); Cairo Opera House, Cairo, Egypt
2010 Makings of an Artist, Afghanistan 2010: The Contemporary Challenge (group); Galerie Nikki Diana Marquardt, Paris, France
2010 SLICK Art Fair (group); l’Esplanade du Palais de Tokyo et le Musee d’Art Moderne, Paris, France
2010 Sovereign Asian Art Prize 2010 Finalists’ Exhibition (group); ARTSPACE @ Helutrans, Singapore
2010 B Side – Voices on the Rise (group), Dorothy’s Gallery, Paris, France
2009 This is NOT a TM Event (solo);Madinah Bazaar Space, Kabul, Afghanistan
2008 Welcome to My Conflict (solo);Taimani 8, Kabul, Afghanistan
2001 Program 12 (group); Warehouse Space, Artist District;Los Angeles, America
2000 Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? Art and the Politics of America (group); Art Share Gallery, Los Angeles, America
2000 Los Angelinos (group); Bedlam Gallery, Los Angeles, America
Experience & Related Activity
Current Exhibiting Artist/Curatorial Team, dOCUMENTA (13)
2011-2010 Independent Professional, Goethe Institute-Kabul; Contemporary Art & Culture Survey (North)
2011-2010 Co-Conspirator, Combat Communications (Collective of Afghan & International artists); bringing graffiti & street art to Kabul, plus projects such as “Wallords: Street Art Workshop 2010” providing a 1-week workshop to young Afghan artists led by visiting international street artist CHU
2010 Conference on “Contemporary Art and Geopolitics”, SLICK Art Fair, Paris, France (in affiliation with Zeitgeist Gallery, NYU-Paris, and Sciences Po)
2010 Consultant, United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Afghanistan; Draft “Policy Framework for the Rehabilitation of Cultural & Creative Industries in Afghanistan”
2010 Lecturer, “Culture & Globalization” summer course, American University, Kabul, Afghanistan; supported by the Goethe Institute-Kabul
2010 Lecturer, “History & Development of Contemporary Art in Afghanistan”, B Side – Voices on the Rise, Dorothy’s Gallery, Paris, France
2010 Lecturer, “Artistic Practice of a Southern Fried Afghan,” International Intervention & Contemporary Culture in Afghanistan Course at Sciences Po taught by Robert Kluijver, Paris, France
2010 Lecturer, “Artistic Practice of a Southern-Fried Afghan,” Photography Course at Sciences Po taught by Emeric Lhuisset, Paris, France2010-2009 Director of Culture & Heritage, Turquoise Mountain; Kabul, Afghanistan2008 Writer & Producer; Independent Short Film “A Sufi Tale: Taxi Version”, Taimani Film Productions; Kabul, Afghanistan
2003-2002 Co-Producer; Radio Intifada (weekly radio program on culture and politics), KPFK - South & West Asia North Africa (SWANA) Radio Collective; Los Angeles, America
2003-2002 Consultant, Documentary Film Project: “Sadaa-e-Zan” (Voices of Women), Renegade Pictures, Inc.; Santa Barbara, America /Kabul,Afghanistan
2004 Certified Participant; Working Effectively in Post-Conflict, Humanitarian, and Reconstruction Situations: Tools for Communication, Collaboration, and Negotiation; The United States Institute of Peace – Training/Workshop; Warrenton, America
Publications
2010 Home and What Can One Say About Living in Kabul? Edited Volume: One Story, Thirty Stories: An Anthology of Contemporary Afghan-American Literature. University of Arkansas Press
2010 The Well-Intentioned Dog Washers, Limes Journal (Italy) & Heartland Journal (America)
2008 Social Stressors, Mental Health, and Physiological Stress in an Urban Elite of Young Afghans at Kabul University,(Co-Authored), American Journal of Human Biology
2007 Humanitarians with Guns: Globalized Rights, Cultural Space, & Militarized Aid in Afghanistan, Edited Volume: Challenges and Paths to Global Justice. Palgrave McMillian
2004 Deteriorating Security Hampers Afghanistan’s Reconstruction, Monday Developments, InterAction
Media
2011 Ever Magazine - GangsTaliban, Lucille Dupre
2011 National Public Radio (NPR) - Performance Artist Packs up His Bling, Quil Lawrence
2011 Frieze Magazine - Subject/Object-Aman Mojadidi, Jennifer Kabat
2011 Brownbook Magazine - Conflict Chic, Gabriela Maj
2011 Wall Street Journal - This 'Jihadi' Has a Subversive Sense of Humor, Dion Nissenbaum
2011 Aftenpoften - Farlig Kunst I Kabul, Kristin Solberg
2010 Afghan Scene Magazine - Jihadi Gangster for Parliament, Dion Nissenbaum
2010 The National, Abu Dhabi - The SLICK Art Fair in Paris, Natasha Edwards
2010 Cover of Metro-Paris - La Creation Emergeant au Slick
2010 Direct Matin - Article & Visual
2010 Interview for Tracks - Arte-TV during the nomination for Arte/Slick Prize
2010 Politiken, Kultur - Parliamentary Candidate Poster Campaign Installation, Signe Grejsen Nissen
2010 REVOLVE Magazine - Featured Artist: Aman Mojadidi, Interviewed in Kabul by Ariel Nasr
2010 CNN - Fighting Corruption in Afghanistan, Atia Abawi
2010 McClatchy News - Filmmaker Mocks Afghan Police Corruption with ‘Reverse Bribes,’ Dion Nissenbaum
2009 Demotix - Aman Mojadidi’s “One Night Only” Solo Show, Tom Francis
2009 Open Magazine - In Black, Red, and Green, Revati Laul, August
2008 Charlie Hebdo - Kabul Underground: Un After Chez Le Mullah Omar?, Agathe Andre (Text) et Tignous (Dessins)
Awards/Commissions
2010 Nominee, SLICK/Arte Prize (SLICK Art Fair 2010); France
2010 Highly Commended, Freedom to Create Prize 2010; Singapore
2010 Finalist, Sovereign Asian Art Prize 2010: Hong Kong
2010 Maker’s Muse Award, The Kindle Project; America
BIOGRAPHY
Growing up in a war, where the bombs were 12,377 kilometers or 7,691 miles (or 6,683 nautical miles though Afghanistan is land-locked so perhaps not as relevant) away. An Afghan-American suburban dream punctuated by weekend sleepovers, Saturday soccer games, fist-fights with racist children of the Confederate South, and religio-nationalist driven demonstrations chanting “Down with Brezhnev!”, “Long live Islam!”, “Down with Communism!”, and “Long Live Afghanistan!” before I even knew what that meant. It is what I was fed growing up, in between southern-fried chicken and garlic mashed potatoes, cumin-scented meat and basmati rice…
Aman Mojadidi creates work that builds on his personal, academic, and professional experiences in cultural studies, conflict, identity politics, and international aid & development.
In his work, Aman often uses contemporary, post-modern ideas of conflict and globalization combined with traditional narratives rooted in culture, belonging, and identity. He collects the materials and inspiration for his work from both internal and external landscapes, intentionally blurring and merging the lines between fact and fiction, documentation and imagination.
He has exhibited his work in galleries, independent spaces, and cultural centers in New York City, Los Angeles, Paris, Singapore, Hong Kong, Cairo, Mumbai, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Dubai, and Kabul.
Born: Jacksonville, Florida, 1971 - Afghan
Kabul, Afghanistan
Mobile: +93 (0) 798 982522 / Afghanistan + Int'l Roam
Email: aman@wearyourrespirator.com
Education
2003 MA Honors, Cultural Anthropology – Conflict & Cultural Politics of Identity
1998 BA Honors, Cultural Anthropology – Third World Aid & Development
Exhibitions
2011 The Coming Insurrection (group); Traffic Gallery, Dubai, UAE
2011 Goodbye Homeland (solo); Galerie Nikki Diana Marquardt, Paris, France
2011 The State: Social / Antisocial (group); Traffic Gallery, Dubai, UAE
2011 Freedom to Create 2010 Exhibition (group); National Gallery, Bosnia and Herzegovina
2011 Freedom to Create 2010 Exhibition (group); Galerie Mirchandanit + Steinreucke, Mumbai, India
2011 ZAT! (Zones Artistiques Temporaires) - installation dans l'espace urbaine: a collaboration with Emeric Lhuisset; Curated by Pascal Lebrun Cordier, (Parc Meric) Montpellier, France
2011 MENASA Studio Dispatches (group); The Island and Art Dubai Special Projects; Art Dubai 2011, Dubai, UAE
2011 Freedom to Create 2010 Exhibition (group); Ana Tzarev Gallery, NYC, America
2010 Freedom to Create 2010 Exhibition (group); Cairo Opera House, Cairo, Egypt
2010 Makings of an Artist, Afghanistan 2010: The Contemporary Challenge (group); Galerie Nikki Diana Marquardt, Paris, France
2010 SLICK Art Fair (group); l’Esplanade du Palais de Tokyo et le Musee d’Art Moderne, Paris, France
2010 Sovereign Asian Art Prize 2010 Finalists’ Exhibition (group); ARTSPACE @ Helutrans, Singapore
2010 B Side – Voices on the Rise (group), Dorothy’s Gallery, Paris, France
2009 This is NOT a TM Event (solo);Madinah Bazaar Space, Kabul, Afghanistan
2008 Welcome to My Conflict (solo);Taimani 8, Kabul, Afghanistan
2001 Program 12 (group); Warehouse Space, Artist District;Los Angeles, America
2000 Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? Art and the Politics of America (group); Art Share Gallery, Los Angeles, America
2000 Los Angelinos (group); Bedlam Gallery, Los Angeles, America
Experience & Related Activity
Current Exhibiting Artist/Curatorial Team, dOCUMENTA (13)
2011-2010 Independent Professional, Goethe Institute-Kabul; Contemporary Art & Culture Survey (North)
2011-2010 Co-Conspirator, Combat Communications (Collective of Afghan & International artists); bringing graffiti & street art to Kabul, plus projects such as “Wallords: Street Art Workshop 2010” providing a 1-week workshop to young Afghan artists led by visiting international street artist CHU
2010 Conference on “Contemporary Art and Geopolitics”, SLICK Art Fair, Paris, France (in affiliation with Zeitgeist Gallery, NYU-Paris, and Sciences Po)
2010 Consultant, United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Afghanistan; Draft “Policy Framework for the Rehabilitation of Cultural & Creative Industries in Afghanistan”
2010 Lecturer, “Culture & Globalization” summer course, American University, Kabul, Afghanistan; supported by the Goethe Institute-Kabul
2010 Lecturer, “History & Development of Contemporary Art in Afghanistan”, B Side – Voices on the Rise, Dorothy’s Gallery, Paris, France
2010 Lecturer, “Artistic Practice of a Southern Fried Afghan,” International Intervention & Contemporary Culture in Afghanistan Course at Sciences Po taught by Robert Kluijver, Paris, France
2010 Lecturer, “Artistic Practice of a Southern-Fried Afghan,” Photography Course at Sciences Po taught by Emeric Lhuisset, Paris, France2010-2009 Director of Culture & Heritage, Turquoise Mountain; Kabul, Afghanistan2008 Writer & Producer; Independent Short Film “A Sufi Tale: Taxi Version”, Taimani Film Productions; Kabul, Afghanistan
2003-2002 Co-Producer; Radio Intifada (weekly radio program on culture and politics), KPFK - South & West Asia North Africa (SWANA) Radio Collective; Los Angeles, America
2003-2002 Consultant, Documentary Film Project: “Sadaa-e-Zan” (Voices of Women), Renegade Pictures, Inc.; Santa Barbara, America /Kabul,Afghanistan
2004 Certified Participant; Working Effectively in Post-Conflict, Humanitarian, and Reconstruction Situations: Tools for Communication, Collaboration, and Negotiation; The United States Institute of Peace – Training/Workshop; Warrenton, America
Publications
2010 Home and What Can One Say About Living in Kabul? Edited Volume: One Story, Thirty Stories: An Anthology of Contemporary Afghan-American Literature. University of Arkansas Press
2010 The Well-Intentioned Dog Washers, Limes Journal (Italy) & Heartland Journal (America)
2008 Social Stressors, Mental Health, and Physiological Stress in an Urban Elite of Young Afghans at Kabul University,(Co-Authored), American Journal of Human Biology
2007 Humanitarians with Guns: Globalized Rights, Cultural Space, & Militarized Aid in Afghanistan, Edited Volume: Challenges and Paths to Global Justice. Palgrave McMillian
2004 Deteriorating Security Hampers Afghanistan’s Reconstruction, Monday Developments, InterAction
Media
2011 Ever Magazine - GangsTaliban, Lucille Dupre
2011 National Public Radio (NPR) - Performance Artist Packs up His Bling, Quil Lawrence
2011 Frieze Magazine - Subject/Object-Aman Mojadidi, Jennifer Kabat
2011 Brownbook Magazine - Conflict Chic, Gabriela Maj
2011 Wall Street Journal - This 'Jihadi' Has a Subversive Sense of Humor, Dion Nissenbaum
2011 Aftenpoften - Farlig Kunst I Kabul, Kristin Solberg
2010 Afghan Scene Magazine - Jihadi Gangster for Parliament, Dion Nissenbaum
2010 The National, Abu Dhabi - The SLICK Art Fair in Paris, Natasha Edwards
2010 Cover of Metro-Paris - La Creation Emergeant au Slick
2010 Direct Matin - Article & Visual
2010 Interview for Tracks - Arte-TV during the nomination for Arte/Slick Prize
2010 Politiken, Kultur - Parliamentary Candidate Poster Campaign Installation, Signe Grejsen Nissen
2010 REVOLVE Magazine - Featured Artist: Aman Mojadidi, Interviewed in Kabul by Ariel Nasr
2010 CNN - Fighting Corruption in Afghanistan, Atia Abawi
2010 McClatchy News - Filmmaker Mocks Afghan Police Corruption with ‘Reverse Bribes,’ Dion Nissenbaum
2009 Demotix - Aman Mojadidi’s “One Night Only” Solo Show, Tom Francis
2009 Open Magazine - In Black, Red, and Green, Revati Laul, August
2008 Charlie Hebdo - Kabul Underground: Un After Chez Le Mullah Omar?, Agathe Andre (Text) et Tignous (Dessins)
Awards/Commissions
2010 Nominee, SLICK/Arte Prize (SLICK Art Fair 2010); France
2010 Highly Commended, Freedom to Create Prize 2010; Singapore
2010 Finalist, Sovereign Asian Art Prize 2010: Hong Kong
2010 Maker’s Muse Award, The Kindle Project; America
BIOGRAPHY
Growing up in a war, where the bombs were 12,377 kilometers or 7,691 miles (or 6,683 nautical miles though Afghanistan is land-locked so perhaps not as relevant) away. An Afghan-American suburban dream punctuated by weekend sleepovers, Saturday soccer games, fist-fights with racist children of the Confederate South, and religio-nationalist driven demonstrations chanting “Down with Brezhnev!”, “Long live Islam!”, “Down with Communism!”, and “Long Live Afghanistan!” before I even knew what that meant. It is what I was fed growing up, in between southern-fried chicken and garlic mashed potatoes, cumin-scented meat and basmati rice…
Aman Mojadidi creates work that builds on his personal, academic, and professional experiences in cultural studies, conflict, identity politics, and international aid & development.
In his work, Aman often uses contemporary, post-modern ideas of conflict and globalization combined with traditional narratives rooted in culture, belonging, and identity. He collects the materials and inspiration for his work from both internal and external landscapes, intentionally blurring and merging the lines between fact and fiction, documentation and imagination.
He has exhibited his work in galleries, independent spaces, and cultural centers in New York City, Los Angeles, Paris, Singapore, Hong Kong, Cairo, Mumbai, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Dubai, and Kabul.
