Sazmanab
Sazmanab was founded in 2008 by Sohrab Kashani in his apartment in northwest Tehran, across from one of the city’s municipal water distribution centres. Its name, derived from Sazman-e Ab (Water Department) with a slight alteration, referenced a hacked or glitched institution, reimagined as an alternative system for distributing art, knowledge, and community. Operating without permits or official oversight, Sazmanab functioned as one of Iran’s first independent, non-profit art spaces and developed into a long-running platform hosting exhibitions, residencies, workshops, screenings, and international collaborations.
Over time, Sazmanab moved through multiple spaces and formats, expanding from a domestic apartment into larger venues, off-site projects, and duplicated and performed iterations. Since the closure of its permanent physical space, Sazmanab has continued as a curatorial practice that translates its archive, methods, and networks into new contexts.
Today, Sazmanab functions as a mobile and collaborative platform, engaging with questions of space, institutional form, circulation, and encounter. It builds on Sazmanab’s history of working across formal and informal structures, foregrounding process, dialogue, and shared authorship while adapting to changing conditions and locations.
↝ Read more: sohrabmk.com
