about
Banafsheh hemmati
Designer_Artist
Banafsheh Hemmati, an Iranian designer-artist, is a master’s graduate
of industrial design and her work explores the intersection of art and
design. Her passion for philosophy has later led to her obtaining a PhD in
philosophy of art. In her doctoral thesis, she has been concerned with
the philosophical foundations of the relation between art and
geometry. For more than twenty years, Hemmati has been
professionally active as a designer, exemplary in founding Banafsheh
Hemmati Design Studio in Tehran. Her extensive pursuits in the field of
design involve designing furniture, landscape, light, accessories, and
jewelry.
Her approach in her jewelries and sculptures which are large-scale
jewelries can be best described as “appropriating” Islamic geometry.
Motifs of Islamic architecture play a major role in her sculptural and
jewelry work. Hemmati employs the diverse geometric patterns of
Islamic architecture in her creations and, sometimes, by disrupting
their rigid order, extends the visual and formal capacities of her works.
She strives to desacralize the sanctity of Islamic architecture and
secularize the geometry.
Her jewelry and sculptures, while are in continuity with each other,
differ primarily in scale. By elevating the site of connection to the level
of the “body,” her sculptures depart from traditional notions of jewelry
as mere adornment for the female body. The traditional interpretation
of jewelry in relation to the female body signifies the beauty of that and
legitimate it, but her recent jewelries (ex. Body Geometry collection)
defamiliarize this traditional function refocusing attention away from
the adorned female body onto the jewelry itself as the subject of the
gaze. Thus, the act of looking is directed not towards the body but
rather to the adorned jewelry, creating an entirely contemporary
interaction with the piece.
Hemmati has shown her works in numerous exhibitions in Iran, the
United States, Italy, Germany, Malaysia, Turkey, and the UAE. Besides
professional works in the field of design, she is engaged in teaching as
well. She has served as a judge at various festivals and has won
prestigious awards, including the Florence International Art and Design
Award in 2017. She is also a member of Klimt02 (an international
platform for contemporary art jewelry and crafts) and contributes as a
writer for the Art Jewelry Forum (AJF) in the United States.
In 2023, her installation titled “Seven Cypresses” was exhibited at the
“First Sculpture Park of the Middle East,” held at the Dubai World Trade
Centre (DIFC), alongside works by artists such as Salvador Dalí, Jeff
Koons, and others. She is the only independent artist at DIFC. After the
exhibition, the installation was purchased for the art collection of DIFC,
where it is now permanently displayed. In this work, Gothic and Islamic
geometry are blended due to their universality, and the artist aimed to
bridge East and West through this geometry. The reference to the
“cypress tree” symbolizes resilience in Iranian visual culture. The
installation is dedicated to the women of Iran, symbolizing their
endurance, with the suspended nature of the installation referring to
the more than 45 years of suspension experienced by Iranian women.
Education
. B.Sc. Industrial and product design, Faculty of Art and Architecture, Azad University
. M.Sc. Industrial and product design, Faculty of Art and Architecture, Azad University
. PhD. Philosophy of Art,Faculty of Human science, Azad University
Some Educational Activities
. 2018-thus far Teaching at the Al-Zahra University - Systematic Approach to Jewelry Design since
. 2009-2004 Teaching at the Faculty of Art and Architecture, (Tehran Central Branch) - Design
. 2016 Design Workshops based on the Development of Creativity in Design at Shahid Beheshti University
. 2015 Jewelry Design proses in Aria gallery Art Classes
Referee
. 2017 Member of Jury in Tehran Jewelry Design Week Competition
. 2018 Member of Jury in Fajr International Festival of Jewelry
Awards
. 2015 - Winner of ‘A Design Award’
. 2016 - Winner of the 6th Tehran International Festival in the field of jewelry
. 2017 - Winner of the Florence International Art and Design Award
Publication and Lectures
. 2023 - «Dismantling the Order of Islamic Geometry» a photo essay, published in ART JEWELRY FORUM Journal- USA
. 2022- A photo essay about Body Geometry collection published in the Munich jewelry week.
. 2022- An interview with Klimit02 (is an international authentic institution in the field of contemporary artistic jewelry and handicraft)
. 2021- A lecture presented in Iran Craft Week- Adaptation or Appropriation - Tehran
. 2020 - Essay about contemporary jewelry in Today's Architect and Fashion journal - Tehran
. 2018- Banafsheh Hemmati’s speech at the fourth #I_designed conference - Tehran
. 2017- Lecture about contemporary jewelry at the Commemoration Ceremony of Parviz Tanavoli in Tehran University- Tehran
. 2016- Symposium on the subject of “Books and Sculpture” with the presence of a group of members of the Iranian Sculpture Association, Published in the journalof the Sculptors Association of Iran.
. 2016- A photo essay published in herfeh honarmand magazine.
Design Week
. 2022-presenting the “Seven Cypresses” installation in Dubai Design Wee , UAE
Jewerly Week
. 2022 - Participation in Munich Jewelley Week
Biennial
. 2020 8th Tehran international Sculpture Biennial
Membership
. 2022 Member of Klimt02 the internatinal authentic institue in the field of contemporary artistic jewelry and handicraft
">. 2023 - Member of ART JEWELRY FORUM Journal as an Author - USA
Art fair
. 2023 - Istanbul art fair
Solo exhibitions
. 2018 Solo Exhibition, Sculpture, the Trace of the absence, Iranshahr Gallery
. 2014 Solo Exhibition, Sculpture and Jewelry, The always, Gallery 26, Tehran
. 2013 Solo Exhibition, Jewelry, Distance, Vali Gallery, Tehran
. 2011 Solo Exhibition, Jewelry, Fluctuation, Vali Gallery, Tehran
. 2010 Solo Exhibition, Jewelry, SeyhounGallery, USA
Selected of group exhibitions
. 2023 Group Exhibition, Baltimore, Baltimore Jewelry Center
. 2023 Group Exhibition, DIFC Sculpture Park, Dubai- UAE
. 2017 Group Exhibition, Contemporary Jewelry, Aria Gallery
. 2017 Group Exhibition, trends and approaches in contemporary Iranian art (painting and sculpture), Pardis Mellat Gallery
. 2017 Group Exhibition, Contemporary Jewelry, Florence, Riacci university Gallery
. 2017 Group Exhibition, Paintings and sculptures, Farmanfarma Gallery
. 2017 Group Exhibition, Iranian artists, Malaysia
. 2016 Group Exhibition, Visual Art & painting, Nowruz- New Day, Vista Gallery
. 2015 Group Exhibition, Visual Art, the Association of Iranian sculptors, Aran Gallery
. 2015 Group Exhibition, Visual Art, small sculptures, Aria Gallery
