Ghazale Bahiraie
Born in 1989 in Tehran, Iran
Lives and works in Lyon, France
Ghazale Bahiraie
Ghazale Bahiraie is a visual artist whose work explores themes of memory, resistance, and identity. Trained at the Tehran School of Fine Arts (Master of Fine Arts, 2012), she has developed a multidisciplinary practice combining drawing, embroidery, installation, and video.
Her creations, often imbued with a political and poetic charge, draw inspiration from her personal history as well as contemporary social and collective realities. By incorporating embroidery—a traditional technique that she reinvents in a contemporary dimension—she gives a new voice to stories of oppression, revolt, and resilience.
Arriving in Lyon in 2017, she settled there permanently and actively participated in the local and international art scene. She exhibits in galleries as well as museums, both in France and abroad (United States, Italy, India, Australia). Her works have been presented at the MAC Lyon, the Paul Dini Museum, and the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco.
Winner of several international awards, including the Mozaik Philanthropy Future Art Awards (Los Angeles, 2023), Ghazale Bahiraie embodies a generation of artists who use art as a tool for testimony, resistance and social transformation.
Training
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2007 – 2012: Master of Fine Arts, Tehran School of Fine Arts, Iran
Distinctions
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2023: Future Art Awards WOMAN.LIFE.FREEDOM, Mozaik Philanthropy, Los Angeles (USA)
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2023: Future Art Awards YEAR OF HOPE, Mozaik Philanthropy, Los Angeles (USA)
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2010: National Award for Best Young Artist, Damoonfar Arts Festival, Tehran (Iran)
Solo exhibitions (selection)
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2025: Frightening Gardens, Valérie Eymeric Gallery, Lyon, France
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2023: Small allegories of a great revolt, Around the image, Lyon, France
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2019: Landless, Around the Image, Lyon, France
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2015: Hassle Free, Aaran Gallery, Tehran, Iran
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2010: Black and White, Mohsen Gallery, Tehran, Iran
Group exhibitions (selection)
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2024: The Call of the Sea, Paul Dini Museum, Villefranche-sur-Saône
Lyon Art Paper Edition 2024, Renaud-Fort de Vaise Foundation, Lyon
Elsewhere, We are here, Espace Guy de Chauliac (Lyon Biennale), Brignais
Gardens, Cabinet of Curiosities – Valérie Eymeric Gallery, Lyon
30+1, Contemporary Art Cloister (Lyon Biennale), Lyon
At the Museum as at home, Paul Dini Museum, Villefranche-sur-Saône -
2023: Lyon Art Paper, Renaud-Fort de Vaise Foundation, Lyon
ARTRISE Collective Public Art Intervention, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco (USA)
Postcards from Iran, Academy of Fine Arts of Bologna, Italy
EMERGE, The Alchemical Art (virtual exhibition), Australia
Future Art Awards – WOMAN.LIFE.FREEDOM, Mozaik Philanthropy, Los Angeles (USA)
Future Art Awards – YEAR OF HOPE, Mozaik Philanthropy, Los Angeles (USA) -
2022: As if it were yesterday, Around the image, Lyon
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2021: Space: Chapter One, Didaar Art Collective, Chicago (USA)
In memory of Flight 752, Motif Art Magazine, BBC Persian Website -
2019 – 2017: Numerous group exhibitions in France and Iran (Project Venus, Lyon; Art Shop Tehran, Tehran, etc.)
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2016 – 2010: Exhibitions in Iran, India, United States, France (Aaran Gallery, Devi Art Foundation, Cité internationale des Arts Paris, Pratt Institute Brooklyn, etc.)
Residences
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2022 – 2024: LeGrandLarge Residence, Lyon, France
Small allegories of a great revolt
This series by Ghazale Bahiraie, an Iranian artist based in Lyon, came about after the creation of a personal collection on motherhood and especially because of the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022. An unprecedented revolt since that of 1979 then began in Iran.
The artist was not physically present during this revolutionary movement, but from Lyon she became involved in the movement
“Woman, Life, Freedom” is a work of remarkable commitment. Her status as an artist and a mother allowed her to identify with mothers whose children had been killed, injured, or imprisoned, and she was thus able to grieve alongside them. In creating these works, the artist pays tribute to all the everyday heroes who participated in this Revolt.
The juxtaposition of opposing elements in these works and the techniques employed pave the way for a new interpretation of the reality of today's world, contrary to common interpretations. Here, the combined visual elements open the way to interpreting the intertwined and hidden folds of his works; thus, the "truth" of these works can be understood through the relationship between what we see in them, our understanding of the world, and how we perceive it. On the one hand, the prison becomes a symbol of confinement and, on the other, a symbol of hope. Traditional Iranian motifs—wounded birds, the cage—are central to these works, as the artist engages in a dialogue with literature and religion, two important elements in Iranian culture throughout history, especially since the Constitutional Revolution of 1906.
The "presence" is embedded in these works, conveying a point of view as well as a lived experience. This presence, revealed to the world through iconic signs, imbues his works with power and symbolic meaning. His works allow us to follow the moments of this revolt through traces such as bodies riddled with bullets, blinded eyes, suicides like that of Mohammad Moradi in Lyon, etc., each one a shock. These representations become realistic and concrete for the captivated viewer.
Ali JAFARI