Parallel Circuit, a member of the Dastan portfolio, is a multidisciplinary art complex in the center of Tehran, Iran, combining a full-scale exhibition space, artists’ residencies, studios, and a common area for the organization of public events such as workshops, readings, presentations and screenings.

The various currents of Iranian art and the rest of the world make up distinct but interconnected branches that will come together at “Parallel Circuit”, interacting in new communities, to complete the circuit. By definition, parallel lines never meet, thus preserving their differences. Yet they share the same, universal scheme. And, as with the many currents that have carried us throughout art history, the total is the sum of the currents.

Our mission:
Bringing together local and international artists sharing an innovative, space-conscious, experimental style, Parallel Circuit seeks to affiliate, promote, and support the genre of Iranian art which speaks a global language. In response to the Iranian art community’s specific needs, the space intends to place the artists’ work in a wide range of international private and museum collections, through innovative online marketing strategies, international art fairs, group exhibitions, and scholarly catalogues. Parallel Circuit also hopes to contribute to the Iranian visual arts community by supporting artist-run projects, residencies and studio spaces, artist talks and so on.

Our approach:
Parallel circuit aims to support artists in two distinct ways: as an exhibition space, showing new and existing work; and by providing other structures such as artist union/community-type spaces, informal residencies, and a platform offering artists the gallery’s professional services.

Parallel Circuit’s aim is to support artists in developing their work and showing it to a wider audience, and contribute to the Iranian art scene and its presence inside and outside of the country, confronting local experiences with global practices. We hope to change the way an art institution relates to its various stakeholders: artists, employees, customers, curators and local audience, developing an organic process of interaction and exchange through loose-knit, informal communities in which they can detect points in common, and learn from and support each other.