Drodzy, Drogie, od roku planuję wystawę w Teheranie „9 bram, z powrotem ani jednej”. Od półtora miesiąca czekałam na wizę artystyczną, a kiedy ją wreszcie otrzymałam, jedna z bardzo dużych organizacji wycofała się z dofinansowania całej produkcji wystawy. Do wystawy został dwa tygodnie, a ja właśnie zostałam bez środków na jej realizację. Mam jakiś ogromny sprzeciw wobec poddania się bez walki, uważam, że kultura powinna być ogólnodostępna w różnych szerokościach geograficznych, bez względu na sympatie i antypatie polityczne krajów, których wymiana kulturowa dotyczy, czy też interes poszczególnych grup związanych z biznesem. Bo to nie politycy i wielki biznes najbardziej doceniają to, co my, twórczynie i twórcy, robimy, a zwykli ludzie, często nawet niezwiązani ze środowiskiem artystycznym. Jeśli cenicie to, co robię, lub uważacie, że moja praca ma sens, chciałabym Was prosić o pomoc w realizacji wystawy. Agata Grzybowska \ Dears, For the last year I have been planning the exhibition of „9 Gates of No Return” in Tehran. For the last month and a half I have been waiting for artistic visa and when I have finally received it, one of the big institutions has withdrawn the fund for its production. There’s two weeks left to the exhibition opening and I have just been left with no funds for its production. I have a huge problem and disagreement to give up without a fight as I think that culture should be commonly accessible in various geographical locations, independently from political leanings or dislikes of the countries involved, or the interests of particular business groups. Because these are not politicians and big business personas who appreciate what we, creators, artists and photographers, do, but ordinary people, often those who are not even part of the artistic circles. If you anyhow appreciate what I do or you think that my work makes sense, I would like to ask for your support. Agata Grzybowska

LETTER OF SUPPORT AND CONFIRMATION OF Ms. AGATA GRZYBOWSKA‘S EXHIBITION IN AG GALERIE, TEHRAN, IRAN

Monday, September 11, 2019

Dear Madam/Sir,

This letter is to confirm that Ms. Grzybowska is a featured exhibiting artist whose photography project ‘9 Gates of No Return’ will be presented in AG Galerie, Tehran, in November 2019. Ag Galerie is a privately-owned space wholly devoted to exhibiting contemporary works of image-based media by established Iranian artists as well as artists from abroad. It was opened as a permanent venue in 2015 and its main objective was to further promote Iranian art through art fairs and publications. The gallery’s first location was a restored 1960’s villa in the northern part of Tehran. After three years and twenty-four exhibitions, in the summer of 2018, the gallery moved to Tehran’s bustling city center and art district. The current space is a restored 1930’s villa and also houses our newly launched Ag Experiments program; a non-profit effort aimed at supporting young talent. We support creating an artistic dialog between artists from Iran and elsewhere and we, therefore, invite curators and artists to exhibit at our gallery.

Ms. Grzybowska has been invited to exhibit in AG Galerie within the abovementioned program and is going to present her already recognized project called ‘9 Gates of No Return’. She will also give artist talks and participate in meetings. Ms. Agata Grzybowska is an accomplished artist, her works have been shown i.a. at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, the Courtyard of the Presidential Palace in Warsaw, Wrocław Contemporary Museum, European Centre in Gdańsk, The Wilson Shaft Gallery in Katowice, The Gallery FF – Forum of Photography in Lodz. She was also selected to present her works within the main program of Krakow Photomonth 2018, Photography Festival W Ramach Sopotu 2018, and Photo Festival Head On 2018 in Sydney, Australia.

Her photo book ‘9 Gates of No Return’ has been presented at several photo book exhibitions, i.a. on the photography festival Les Recontres De La Photographie in Arles, France 2018, PHotoESPAÑA 2018 in Madrid, Spain, at Tokyo Institute of Photography in 2019 and MOPLA Photo Book Exhibition in Los Angeles, USA and Athens Photo Festival 2018. It has been internationally recognized and awarded. In Poland, it won the first prize as a photobook of the year in Grand Press Photo 2018 and the Plebiscite Fotopolis & Digital Camera 2017, but also the Gold award in TIFA 2018 (Tokyo International Foto Awards), Silver at MIFA 2018 (Moscow International Photo Awards). Her photographs were also published in several magazines in Poland and abroad.

Ms. Agata Grzybowska is well-traveled and a frequent visitor to photography festivals all over the world. She is motivated to engage with Iranian artists and curators, offer constructive dialogue which always leads to extremely valuable cultural and artistic exchange. Such involvement not only promotes Polish contemporary photography but also Polish culture as such, especially in the context of projects that are so deeply intertwined with Polish history.

If Ms. Grzybowska is unable to attend the exhibition opening and meetings related to it, Iranian artistic circles will miss out on a significant benefit and it would be a great loss for AG Gallery’s audience and anyone interested to hear from and get inspired by the artist of her caliber.

Yours respectfully,

Simindokht Dehghani

Owner / Director

1