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<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">For Immediate Release
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoPlainText"><a name="_Hlk104972177"><b><i><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">We Are Countless</span></i></b></a><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk104972177"><b><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">
opens at Kelowna Art Gallery</span></b></span><b><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><b><i><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><a name="_Hlk104972193"><i><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">We Are Countless: Reyhan Yazdani and Nasim Pirhadi<o:p></o:p></span></i></a></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk104972193"><i><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">January 21 to April 16, 2023<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p>
<span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk104972193"></span>
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<p class="MsoPlainText"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">January 19, 2023 – Kelowna, BC:
</span></b><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">We Are Countless</span></i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> is a new exhibition of work by two artists — Reyhan Yazdani and Nasim Pirahadi —
both Persian Canadian women. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The exhibition invites visitors to engage with a diverse range of powerful artworks that call attention to timely social and political discourse. It opens on January
21, 2023, at the Kelowna Art Gallery.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The exhibition’s title comes from an artwork of the same name by
<b>Nasim Pirhadi</b>. The impressive acrylic painting on canvas fabric depicts a tapestry of recognizable figures in varying states of protest interspersed with city motifs and backed by high-voltage power lines. Pirhadi says the work is “a reflection on the
current political unrest in Iran and is a direct response to 22-year-old Jina ‘Mahsa’ Amini’s murder by the morality police of the Islamic Republic for not wearing her hijab.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">In a series of ceramic sculptures by
<b>Reyhan Yazdani</b>, visitors will encounter familiar objects like cassette tapes and viewfinders — a 3D slide viewer toy popular in the 1980s. Yazdani uses familiar household objects, maps, and papers that are abstracted and re-materialized, processing what
has been lost, hidden, or taken away in the current history of Iran under the governance of the Islamic Republic.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">We Are Countless</span></i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> runs from January 21 to April 16, 2023 and is proudly supported by Naze
Khajavi at RE/MAX Kelowna and Mehrsa Maali at Royal LePage Kelowna.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Reyhan Yazdani is an artist of multilingual heritage who works in installation, works on paper, social art, and creative writing. Currently, she is an instructor at Emily
Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Nasim Pirhadi is a multi-medium artist and current MFA candidate at UBC Okanagan. She is based in Kelowna.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The Kelowna Art Gallery is located at 1315 Water Street, in downtown Kelowna, B.C.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoPlainText" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">- 30 –<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
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<p class="MsoPlainText"><u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Image credits:</span></u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p><span style="text-decoration:none"> </span></o:p></span></u></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Nasim Pirhadi in front of
<i>We Are Countless</i>, 2022, acrylic paint on canvas fabric.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Reyhan Yazdani,
<i>Records of Dark History: 40 Years and More</i>, 2022, ceramic castings of cassette tapes. Courtesy of the artist.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Reyhan Yazdani,
<i>Fragments</i>, 2022, handmade paper and ceramic sculptures, variable dimensions. Courtesy of the artist.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Resources</span></u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Exhibition page:
<a href="https://kelownaartgallery.com/we-are-countless/">https://kelownaartgallery.com/we-are-countless/</a><span style="color:#666666"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">To arrange for an interview with artists
<b>Reyhan Yazdani</b>, <b>Nasim Pirhadi</b>, or exhibition curator <b>Christine May</b>, or for additional high-res images, please contact:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Joshua Desnoyers<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Marketing and Events Coordinator<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Kelowna Art Gallery<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">1315 Water Street, Kelowna, BC V1Y 9R3<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">250-762-2226 ext. 305<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><a href="mailto:josh@kelownaartgallery.com">josh@kelownaartgallery.com</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><a href="http://www.kelownaartgallery.com">www.kelownaartgallery.com</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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