Bita Ghezelayagh
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Bita Ghezelayagh (born 1966, Florence, Italy) is an Iranian contemporary artist who lives and works in Tehran and London.[1] Best known for her sculptural, textile-based and felting works that reclaim traditional Iranian crafting techniques, reinterpreting and transforming them into modern art.[2][3] Her work has been exhibited internationally and is held in several collections, including the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum.[4][5] She was shortlisted for the Jameel Prize in 2011.[6]
Bita Ghezelayagh was born in Florence, Italy, in 1966. She returned to Iran with her family in 1968 and was brought up in Tehran. Ghezelayagh studied architecture at the École nationale supérieure d'architecture de Paris-La Villette. She returned to Iran in 1994, where she worked on a building restoration project for the Iranian Calligraphers Association. She was also art director for three Iranian films, including Dariush Mehrjui's The Pear Tree.[7][8]
In 2003, she began studying the traditional craft of felt-making and had her first solo exhibition in Tehran five years later.[9] This was followed by other solo exhibitions, including a touring exhibition in the United Kingdom. Ghezelayagh has participated in group shows at the Sharjah Art Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Casa Árabe in Madrid, the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts and the San Antonio Museum of Art.[10]
Her work is included in the collections of the British Museum in London, the Farjam Foundation in Dubai and the Devi Art Foundation in New Delhi.[10]
She is married to British author and journalist Christopher de Bellaigue.[11]
