Founded in 1998 by visual artist Rozita Sharafjahan and Mohsen Nabiza- deh, Azad Gallery has served for over two decades as a vanguard institution in championing the evolution of contemporary art across Iran and its cultural sphere. United by an unwavering commitment to fostering diverse artistic practices—spanning Conceptual Art, New Media, Feminist discourse, Performance, and critical interdisciplinary dialogues—the gallery emerged as a radical counterpoint to conventional artistic frameworks. This ethos culminated in Azad Gallery’s establishment as a pioneering nexus for experimental practices and intellectual debate, solidifying its enduring influence within Iran’s art scene.

Beyond its role as a curatorial platform for both emerging and established artists, Azad Gallery’s public programs and scholarly publications have played a pivotal role in cultivating critical discourse on Iranian art. By deliberately eschewing mainstream narratives and traditional orthodoxies, the gallery has foregrounded institutional critique as a cornerstone of its mission, redefining cultural production through a lens of rigorous inquiry.

Azad Gallery’s programming intentionally bridges generational and geographic divides, pairing the avant-garde visions of younger artists with the legacies of their predecessors to spark generative dialogues—both within Iran and beyond. This conscious decentralisation of Tehran’s artistic hegemony has enabled collaborations with leading international museums, galleries, and biennials, reflecting the gallery’s dedication to subverting reductive, often colonial, interpretations of Iranian art. Notable projects include: Recalling the Future (Brunei Gallery SOAS, London); Sehnsucht Persien (Museum Rietberg, Zürich); Iranian Ontology (Freies Museum, Berlin); Unedited History (MAXXI Museum, Rome; Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris); Breakfast in Tehran (Jill George Gallery, London); and Surveilling the Naked City (Galerie Ernst Hilger, Vienna).