Hajar Satari - Iranian artist in residence

Hajar Satari (1990 - Najafabad, Iran) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work takes the form of photographs, videos, sculptures and installations. She explores mental perceptions and representations of the world around her. Using assemblage and moulding techniques, she creates sculptures that poetically confront the human and the living. Inspired by a physical and geological experience of space, her work allows us to glimpse new forms of life linked to the upheaval of ecosystems and to apprehend other types of relationship with the environment.

Hajar Satari currently lives and works in Paris. She is taking part in the 2024 Lyon Biennial.

Foreign artists in France

Since 2022, Les Abattoirs, Musée - Frac Occitanie Toulouse and DRAWinternational in Caylus (Tarn-et-Garonne) have been working together to set up an artistic residency for foreign artists living in France. Initially offered to Ukrainian nationals, since 2024 the call for applications has been extended to all countries where the situation is such that artists may fear for their freedom and their lives.

This initiative helps to support these artists by offering them a working space in an environment conducive to new encounters and the development of artistic projects. This solidarity residence encourages dialogue between cultures and raises public awareness of the realities of exile.

This residency is fully in line with the programming and reflections of Les Abattoirs on the question of creation and life in exile, with the exhibition ‘Picasso et l'exil’ (Picasso and exile) and the programme of exhibitions ‘Je suis né étranger’ (I was born a foreigner) in the Occitanie region (2019); ‘Africa2020’ (2021) and ‘Femmes, Vie, Liberté’ (Women, Life, Freedom), an exhibition in support of Iranian women (2023- in progress).

The artist will be based in Caylus for 2 months, where she will have a studio and accommodation in the heart of the village. She will be supported in her research by teams from DRAWinternational and Les Abattoirs.

Two Ukrainian artists have previously benefited from this residency: in 2022, Nata Levitasova and in 2023, Victoria Palma.

D.R.