Fariba Hajamadi: History is in the Caption examines how cultural, educational, and public institutions shape narratives of history and culture. The exhibition presents a series of works by Iranian-born, American artist Fariba Hajamadi, whose practice blends photography and painting to create layered, imaginary spaces. Hajamadi, who emigrated two years before the Iranian revolution, also created a new site-specific installation with wallpaper and sculptures that depict Iran’s visual and political landscape. For this program, the artist will be joined in conversation by scholar Judith Rodenbeck about Hajamadi’s artistic practice. 
 

Speakers

Fariba Hajamadi (born in Esfahan, Iran) has exhibited internationally at institutions including the New Museum, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia; Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris; and Museum Fridericianum, Kassel. She earned her BFA at Western Michigan University in 1980, and her MFA at the California Institute of the Arts in 1982.
 

Judith Rodenbeck is a cultural historian whose research concentrates on intermedial art practices since 1945. She writes about art of the 20th and 21st centuries for both scholarly and popular publications, and teaches as a Full Professor in the Department of Media & Cultural Studies at the University of California, Riverside.

Image: Fariba Hajamadi, Poppys and Demons, In Maharaja’s Tent, 2019. Triptych, ink on canvas. (Installation view by Nikolay Maslov/UCR ARTS)
 

Credits:

This program is organized in conjunction with the exhibition Fariba Hajamadi: History is in the Caption, on view at the Culver Center of the Arts through March 22, 2026. Programs at UCR ARTS are supported by the City of Riverside.