About

Elham Rahmati

Elham Rahmati (b. 1989, Tehran) is a visual artist and curator based in Helsinki. She is the co-founder and co-editor of NO NIIN, an independent online monthly magazine at the cusp of art, criticality and love. In 2019 and 2020, she worked as the curator and producer of the Academy of Moving People & Images (AMPI), a film school in Helsinki for mobile people – those who have arrived in Finland for different reasons, be they immigrants, asylum seekers, students, or employees. AMPI’s aim was to provide a free learning platform where people from different backgrounds acquire tools and methods with which they can tell the stories they find important. Prior to that, she worked as a curator & coordinator at Third Space, an artist-run gallery emerging as a response to the lack of inclusivity and diversity in the art scene in Finland. Currently, Elham is teaching the course ‘Thinking With/From Global South’s Women Filmmakers’ at University-Wide Art Studies (UWAS) at Aalto University, the course is curated based on her MA thesis ‘Finding your way out of Chinatown: A proposal to reimagine film theory education curriculums through a post-colonial, feminist and anti-imperialist lens’. 

ٍEDUCATION

  • MA Aalto University, Visual Culture, Curating & Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland.   2016-2021
  • MFA Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze, Visual Arts & New Forms of Expression:  Painting, Florence, Italy. 2013-2016
  • BA Sepehr Art University, Painting, Esfahan, Iran. 2008-2012
  • Sooreh School of Art, Film Studies, Tehran, Iran. 2005-2007

CURATORIAL EXPERIENCE

  • Expert of the board of Raimo Utriainen Art Foundation, 2021-2022.
  • Participating curator at Juxtapose Art Fair’s Nordic Visiting Curators Program, Aarhus, Denmark, 2021.
  • Co-curator at ‘NO NIIN Listening Session: Golrokh Nafisi & Jyotsna Siddharth’, Publics, Helsinki, 2021.
  • Co-founder & co-editor of NO NIIN, an online monthly magazine at the cusp of art, criticality and love, 2021-2022.
  • Supporting curator of HIAP-Helsinki International Artist Programme for the summer residency season, Helsinki, Finland, 2021.
  • Curator of the exhibition ‘Stories from the sea, stories from the city’, Stoa Gallery, Helsinki, Finland, 2020.
  • Curator and producer of AMPI Graduate Screening at Bio Rex, Helsinki, 2020.
  • Curator and producer of AMPI Advanced Workshops, Helsinki, Finland, 2019
  • Curator and producer of The Academy of the Moving People & Images, Helsinki, Finland, 2019-2020.
  • Curator and coordinator of Mobile Film School test workshop at Goethe Institut Finnland, 2018.
  • Residency/communication assistant at HIAP-Helsinki International Artist Programme. 2018
  • Curator and Coordinator in the gallery Third Space in Helsinki, 2017-2019.
  • Co-curating the course ‘Authorship & Agency: Learning from the Middle East’ with Max  Ryynänen, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland, 2017.
  • Curating the Lecture/discussion ‘On Revolutionary Stories’ event with Ramy Essam, Aalto  University, Espoo, Finland, 2016.

ARTIST/CURATOR TALKS & LECTURES

  • Teaching the course ‘Thinking With/From Global South’s Women Filmmakers’ at University-Wide Art Studies (UWAS) at Aalto University, Finland, 2022.
  • Guest Speaker at the ‘MONEY FAME, GLORY?” career event for ART students in Finland, Aalto University, 2022.
  • Talk at Node Center of Curatorial Studies studio visit program.
  • Guest lecturer in the course ‘Professional skills for Visual Artists’ at The Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki, Finland, 2021.
  • Talk at ‘My Friend is Here: Rethinking Feminist Collectivity in Troubled Times’, A Gathering and Public Programme Curated by Alba Folgado and Carlota Mir in collaboration with Konsthall C, Stockholm, Sweden. 2021
  • Lecture at ‘Internationalization Webinar Program’ organized by Jyväskylä Art Museum, curated by Anna Ruth. 2021
  • Talk at UA Talks Podcast 3: NO NIIN Publication; Building A New Platform; Love. 2021
  • Lecture/Screening/Discussion at MMC Kibla held by the Association X-OP as part of the project  Risk Change (2016—2020), Maribor, Slovenia. 2020
  • Publics Talk: Academy of the Moving People & Images. Publics, Helsinki, Finland. 2019
  • Thursday Talk at MAA: Academy of the Moving People & Images, Helsinki, Finland. 2019
  • Artist talk at GuestRoomMaribor, Maribor, Slovenia. 2017

PUBLICATIONS

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

  • Holding a Monument, Myymälä2 Gallery, Helsinki, Finland. 2018
  • It Seemed the Better Way, K18 Gallery, Maribor, Slovenia. 2017
  • In the Dark Times Will There Also Be Singing? Third Space, Helsinki, Finland. 2015
  • Stories from the Sea, Stories from the City, Gallery Klein, Helsinki, Finland. 2015
  • In the Dark Times Will There Also Be Singing? Ghalam Gallery, Esfahan, Iran. 2009

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

  • The Crew, Taco Stuffs and the Life ‘after’ the Institution, Galleria Huuto, Helsinki, Finland. 2019
  • Videokanava: Resolution / Kumous, screening 2, Contemporary Art Center Pispala, Tampere,  Finland. 2018
  • Here to Disappear, Third Space, Helsinki, Finland. 2018
  • System & Error, Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia (EKKM), Tallin, Estonia. 2018
  • Always First Demolition, Dispersed Holdings, New York, United States. 2018
  • Opdagelser 2017, Galleri Heike Arndt DK, Kettinge, Denmark. 2017
  • Reviewing Richter, Zbirka Richter, Zagreb, Croatia. 2017
  • Fresh Legs 2017, Gallery Heike Arndt DE, Berlin, Germany. 2017
  • Is/Not: Sculpture For the Post-Truth Era, Aalto Learning Center, Espoo, Finland. 2017
  • ‘Women Communicating Across and Through Arts, Caisa, Helsinki, Finland. 2015

GRANTS & SCHOLARSHIPS

  • Nordic Culture Point, mobility grant. 2021
  • Kone Foundation, 24 months working grant for the project ‘NO NIIN’. 2021
  • Taike, Arts Promotion Centre Finland, project grant for ‘Academy of Moving People &  Images‘. 2020
  • AVEK, Project grant for the ‘The Academy of the Moving People & Images’ Advanced  Workshops. 2019
  • Kone Foundation, 18 months working grant for the project ‘The Academy of the Moving  People & Images’. 2019-2020
  • Taike, Arts Promotion Centre Finland, 6 months Artists grant. 2018
  • Aalto Art’s Department grant for organizing an exhibition in Myymälä2, Helsinki. 2018
  • MIUR: Ministry of Education, Universities & Research grant, Italy. 2016
  • DSU Toscana, 2.5 years full tuition and expenses scholarship, Florence, Italy. 2014-2016
  • One year Erasmus Scholarship for a full academic year in Finland. 2014

ARTIST IN RESIDENCY PROGRAMME

  •  ~In Waves~ Intensive residency of feminist curating at Hanaholmen – the Swedish-Finnish  Culture Centre, organised by Nynnyt. 2018
  • Artist in Residence at GuestRoomMaribor, Maribor, Slovenia. 2017

MEMBERSHIPS

  • Member of Kaftaar Collective, Tehran, Iran. 2020-
  • Member of the steering group of the Feminist Culture House. 2020-2021   
  • Member of Third Space Collective, Helsinki. 2017-2019
  • Catalysti: Transcultural Artists in Finland. 2017-