The Silence

Sazmanab and Mattress Factory Museum

One day, a DIY cassette tape mysteriously appears on a bookshelf in the Pittsburgh version of The Other Apartment. Kashani and Rubin later discover that the tape was secretly left there by the lead singer of the Mexican band Para Decir Adioss. Struck by the unlikely logic of a Mexico City band promoting itself by leaving a demo tape inside a Pittsburgh replica of a Tehran apartment, the artists decide to build an exhibition entirely around this single cassette.

For the exhibition The Silence, Kashani and Rubin invite musicians in Pittsburgh and Tehran to visit The Other Apartment and perform cover versions of all the songs on the cassette. Each performance is filmed and screened in the room where it is recorded, including the bedroom, office, bathroom, and living room of the apartment. Cassette tapes featuring all the cover versions are made available for purchase in both the Tehran and Pittsburgh iterations of the space.

Participating musicians include Rojiar Afshar, Niki Amiri, Patrick Breiner, Farzan Farhangmehr, Mohammad Givekesh, HSM (HomewoodSoundMachine) (Mike Mitchell, Joshua “Jrouz3” Rouse, Michael “Isaiah Blue” Walker), Inez, Ali Khadivi, Sina Najaflou, Reza Omidvari, Mario Quinn, James Royce, The Squirrel Hillbillies (Jenny Wolsk and Gary Crouth), and Niki Yaghmaee.

Watch videos here
Listen to The Silence album here

All original songs by Para Decir Adioss: Kicha Baptiste (guitar, noise voice, lyrics), Olvido Baptiste (chorus), Nobody S. (bass, studio engineer), Kitty Weiss (drums, keyboard, booking management).
2019 All rights reserved. Christian Bautista Arriaga, Morelos, México.

Music consultation in Pittsburgh: Lauren Goshinski
Music consultation in Tehran: Sina Najaflou
Sound and video recording in Pittsburgh: David Bernabo
Sound and video recording in Tehran: Siavash Naghshbandi

The exhibition is made possible with support from Creative Capital.

Activities

Sazmanab at Bon-gah Art Book Fair 2020

Dec 2020

Bon-gah

Sazmanab participates in the 2020 Bon-gah Art Book Fair with publications, editions, and merchandise connected to its programming and to The Silence, developed through The Other Apartment.

Iran Sazmanab ⧚ Water Dept.Tehran The Other Apartment

Virtual Coffee Date with Sohrab Kashani and Jon Rubin

Oct 2020

Sazmanab and Mattress Factory Museum (online)

A virtual conversation with Jon Rubin and Sohrab Kashani on collaboration across Tehran and Pittsburgh, distance, process, and parallel spaces.

Conversation Event Iran Pittsburgh Sazmanab ⧚ Water Dept.Talk Tehran The Other Apartment United States

Where Shall We Go Today?

Sep 2020

Sazmanab and Mattress Factory Museum

Where Shall We Go Today? unfolds as a series of remote encounters between a part-time superhero in Tehran and invited experts in Pittsburgh, using humour and vulnerability to reflect on care, resilience, and parallel realities.

Alter Ego Iran Pittsburgh Sazmanab ⧚ Water Dept.Tehran The Other Apartment United States Video

Ghana ThinkTank (Netherlands Edition)

Apr 2020

online

Sazmanab took part again in the Ghana ThinkTank project, this time by proposing solutions to problems submitted by residents of Amsterdam. The Sazmanab ThinkTank included Sohrab Kashani, Golnoosh Heshmati, and Siavash Naghshbandi. Ghana ThinkTank operates as an international collective that reverse conventional power dynamics by inviting perspectives from the so-called “third world” to intervene in social, political, and everyday issues in the “developed” world.

Amsterdam Ghana Think Tank Iran Netherlands Project Sazmanab ⧚ Water Dept.Social Practice Tehran

The Silence

Jan 2020

Sazmanab and Mattress Factory Museum

The Silence is an exhibition developed from a single found cassette tape, activating musicians in Tehran and Pittsburgh to reinterpret its songs through site-specific performances across Sazmanab’s dual sites.

Curatorial Exhibition Iran Music Performance Pittsburgh Publication Launch Sazmanab ⧚ Water Dept.Tehran The Other Apartment United States

The Superhero Summit at the Centre Pompidou

Nov 2019

Centre Pompidou

Sohrab Kashani took part in The Superhero Summit at the Centre Pompidou in 2019, organised by Kadist. As part of the programme, he gave a talk reflecting on Sazmanab’s latest edition, Sazmanab ⧚ Water Dept. and The Other Apartment.

Centre Pompidou Event France Iran Kadist Paris Presentation Sazmanab ⧚ Water Dept.Talk Tehran The Other Apartment

Grand Tour d’Italia 2019

Nov 2019

Sazmanab took part in Grand Tour d’Italia 2019 as a featured international curatorial platform based in Tehran. The project positioned Sazmanab within a network of ten international institutions engaging with thirty Italian artists, highlighting its long-term role in supporting artistic practice through exhibitions, residencies, and public programmes, and in fostering cultural exchange across borders. Grand Tour d’Italia 2019 was promoted by DG Contemporary Creativity and Urban Regeneration of MiBACT and curated by NOS, and included studio visits and programme activities in Italy, notably at MAMbo Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna and the Accademia di Belle Arti L’Aquila.

Iran Italy Sazmanab Center Tehran

Talk: The Other Apartment and Voice-over

Nov 2019

Sohrab Kashani, Jon Rubin, and Joseph Del Pesco

Sazmanab and Mattress Factory Museum

Live discussion on The Other Apartment and Voice-over connecting Tehran and Pittsburgh, with Sohrab Kashani, Jon Rubin, and Joseph Del Pesco.

Conversation Event Iran Online Pittsburgh Sazmanab ⧚ Water Dept.Talk Tehran The Other Apartment United States

Voice-over (in three parts)

Sep 2019

Curated by Joseph Del Pesco and Sohrab Kashani

Sazmanab and Mattress Factory Museum

Six video works curated by Joseph Del Pesco and Sohrab Kashani explore voice-over as a space for interpretation and reflection, pairing artists from Iran and the United States to examine memory, language, and poetic narration across image and sound.

Curatorial Exhibition Iran Memory Perception Pittsburgh Sazmanab ⧚ Water Dept.Tehran The Other Apartment Translation United States Video