Sara is British artist of Iranian heritage living and working in London. Born in Tehran, Iran in the midst of the Iranian revolution, Sara and family fled persecution at a young age, settling in London, where she also received treatment and overcame childhood cancer before the age of two. Surviving both the revolution and illness engendered a profound desire within Sara to make a difference through artistic endeavours.
Sara studied visual arts at Camberwell College of Art and Design and music at Westminster University and over the past few years photography has been the primary focus. Working in the discourse of social documentary, Sara’s photographic work explores issues around identity and social justice and is inspired by the central principles of equality, a belief in the strength of unity in diversity, and love as a driving force.
Sara undertook CIDA’s Digital Women’s Club course in 2007, a CIDA project providing a route into the creative industries for women who were unemployed or running sole trader businesses. The Digital Women’s Club was funded by LDA (London Development Agency) via ESF (European Social Fund) and offered accredited training and business development in film, music, literature, web design, TV and design.
“It not only gave me the opportunity to evaluate what I had already achieved and set goals but also as an adult with learning difficulties I was provided with guidance, support and pushed to face my fears. Whilst on the course I wrote a powerful email that led to my work being exhibited internationally in an exhibition curated by one of my photographic hero’s Jamel Shabazz.”
“Over the past couple of years my work has exhibited in London, New York, Hong Kong and Paris in galleries, museums and public spaces including the Institute of Contemporary Art, Selfridges & Co, Espace Pierre Cardin (Studio 55), The Powerhouse Arena and Danny Simmon’s Corridor Gallery. Since then I was also given an opportunity by CIDA to exhibit in the overlay project - it was incredible to be part of this.”
October 2009 CIDA sent out a call for artists to cover 54m2 of builders hoarding around the grade 1 listed building the ‘Jamme Masjid’ (Jamme Mosque). 13 creatives from different artistic backgrounds including painting, drawing, photography, stencilling, graffiti and mosaic were selected to take part providing them with a fantastic opportunity to promote their work, as well as developing a sense of ownership and involvement of local people in the development process of the area.
“I have a solo show entitled ‘Britain Retold-A Portrait of London’ which debuted at London City Hall in December 2010 and is an exploration of British identity by the multi communities that make up London. In preparation for this I attended CIDA’s Marketing and Fundraising workshops which were both inspirational and practical.”
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