Career
Zolghadr currently teaches at the Center for ial Studies, Bard College, New New York Since 2004, Zolghadr has curated events at Cubitt London, IASPIS Stockholm, Kunsthalle Geneva, various Tehran artspaces, the United Arab Emirates pavilion at the Venice Biennale and other venues. He was co-curator of the Taipei Biennial and the International Sharjah biennial 2005. Zolghadr grew up in Tehran, Zurich, Northand West Africa.
He studied Comparative Literature in Geneva, then worked as a cultural journalist and translator before starting to work as a freelance art critic and curator.
Curated exhibitions:
Taipei Biennial 2010
United Arab Emirates National Pavilion in Venice 2009
‘Ethnic Marketing’ at the Kunsthalle Geneva with M. Anderfuhren, 2004
Various venues in Tehran in April 2006
7th International Sharjah Biennial
Contributions to Manifesta 6
Lapdogs of the Bourgeoisie: 2006-2009 Gasworks, London, Platform Garanti Contemporary Art Center, Istanbul, Tensta Konsthall, Townhouse Cairo (2008), Arnolfini Bristol (2009)
Tirdad Zolghadr has also written a novel, "Softcore", published by Telegram Books in the United Kingdom (2007: ) and Kiepenheuer & Witsch in Germany (2008)
"..Tirdad Zolghadr’s debut novel tells the story of the Promessa nightclub in Tehran, once a glamorous cocktail bar of the 70s and soon to be reopened as a heady mix of art, fashion and culture. Narrated by an art-enthusiast who soon finds himself locked into a complex political detective story, Softcore traces the story of modern-day Iran with wit and panache.".