EMBASSY CULTURAL HOUSE
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Soheila Esfahani

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 Birds: Pattern (dis)Placed, 3D printed Resin, 201
ECH: ​Tell us a little about yourself. 
 
I was born and raised in Iran and moved to Canada in 1992 to study. After receiving my Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Waterloo, I started my professional practice as a visual artist as well as my teaching career. I have been fortunate to exhibit my work across Canada from Halifax to Vancouver. Currently, I teach at Western University.
 
ECH: Briefly describe your art practice.
 
My practice questions displacement, dissemination, and reinsertion of culture by re-contextualizing culturally specific ornamentation and various collected souvenir type objects. I navigate the terrains of cultural translation by exploring ornamentation as a form of “portable culture” that can be carried across cultures and nations. My work aims to destabilize the origin of culture and reconstruct Homi Bhabha’s “the third space of in-betweeness”: a site of cultural translation, where locations of cultures are negotiated, and new narratives are adapted and hybridized.
 
ECH: What role does your cultural identity play in your work?  
 
As an immigrant, my work hinges on my experience of living between two cultures. The negotiations that arise from an in-betweeness are at the heart of my practice.
 
ECH: As a person of colour, what challenges do you face navigating the art world? 
 
One of the challenges for me has been avoiding categorization of my work as ‘ethnic art’. Although my work employs culturally specific motifs, the conceptual grounding of my work speaks to the language of contemporary art and it does not necessary focus on my ethnic background.
 
ECH: Could you share a little bit about your experience during the pandemic? 
 
Although galleries and museums were closed for an extended period of time, I found the online programming to be very accessible and opened up opportunities that did not existed before such as being able to attend artist talks anywhere in the world!
 
ECH: If any, can you tell us about your connection/experience/history with the Embassy Culture House? 
 
I am new to Embassy Culture House. However, I have known Jamelie Hassan for over a decade and have been involved in a number of projects/exhibitions with her over the years.

Soheila's ECH Contributor Page
Soheila's website

EDITORIAL TEAM

ONLINE FOUNDER
Tariq Hassan Gordon

COFOUNDERS & CURATORIAL ADVISORS 
 
Jamelie Hassan 
& Ron Benner

ADVISORY CIRCLE
Samer Abdelnour, Marnie Fleming, Wyn Geleynse, Fern Helfand, S F Ho, Lorraine Klaasen, Judith Rodger, Ruth Skinner, Mary Lou and Dan Smoke,  and Lucas Stenning 

COORDINATING EDITORS
Tariq Hassan Gordon & 
Olivia Mossuto

WEB DESIGN & SOCIAL MEDIA 
Tariq Hassan Gordon, Ira Kazi, Olivia Mossuto, Niloufar Salimi,  JoAnna Weil 

VIRTUAL TOUR
Andreas Buchwaldt

PRINT PUBLICATIONS
Blessy Augustine, Shelley Kopp, 
Olivia Mossuto

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Andreas Buchwaldt, Blessy Augustine, Anahí González, Ira Kazi, ​Shelley Kopp, Ashar Mobeen, Niloufar Salimi,  Jenna Rose Sands, JoAnna Weil & Michelle Wilson. 

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OUR STORY
Artists Jamelie Hassan and Ron Benner and jazz musician Eric Stach founded the Embassy Cultural House (1983-1990) located in the restaurant portion of the Embassy Hotel at 732 Dundas Street in East London. Other former members of the board were: Debrann Eastabrook, Henry Eastabrook, Sharron Forrest, Wyn Geleynse, Janice Gurney, Jean Hay (1929 - 2008), Doug Mitchell, Kim Moodie, Gerard Pas, Peter Rist, Wanda Sawicki, Jean Spence and Jennie White. In 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Embassy Cultural House was re-envisioned as a virtual artist-run space and website. 

This project is supported by the Ontario Arts Council and the London Arts Council through the City of London's Community Arts Investment Program.
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Thank you to our partners

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E M B A S S Y  C U L T U R A L  H O U S E . C A

​London, Ontario is on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabeg, Haudenosaunee, Lenape, Attawandaron and Huron-Wendat peoples, at the forks of Deshkan Ziibi (Antler River), an area subject to the Dish with One Spoon Wampum and other treaties.

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  • Home
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  • Community
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  • Projects
  • Background
    • Past Programming >
      • Exhibitions 1983-1990 >
        • Index of Curators
        • Index of Photographers
        • Index of Visual Artists
      • Film 1983-1990
      • Music 1983-1990 >
        • Index of Musicians
      • Performances 1983-1990 >
        • Index of Performers
    • Embassy Hotel History
  • About