Opening Event — 20 February from 5pm
with short talks by Joris Bas Backer and Dr Mahroo Moosavi followed by a discussion at 6pm

Opening Hours — 21 to 23 February, 12am – 6pm

Location — Berlin Artistic Research Programme
Uferstraße 13, 13357 Berlin

In his graphic novel-in-progress Boyhood Lost, Bardia intimately captures the turbulent experiences of a young queer student, navigating life in postrevolutionary Iran. Through striking visuals and evocative storytelling, the work illustrates the dreams, challenges, and resilience of a youth lived in times of political and social upheaval. Drawing from personal memories and historical archives, Bardia blends elements of realism and expressionism into a journey through the homes, schools, and streets of 1980s Iran, narrating stories of struggle, uncertainty, and transformation. 

To celebrate the end of Bardia’s “Fellowship Programm Weltoffenes Berlin 2024”, funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion, themes of the graphic novel are translated into the space of the Berlin Artistic Research Programme, accompanied by research materials, personal artefacts and ephemera. 

For the opening evening, invited guests Joris Bas Backer and Dr Mahroo Moosavi will offer additional layers of contextualization to the work. Joris Bas Backer will speak on the relationship between comics, underground punk, and queer culture, followed by a talk from Dr Mahroo Moosavi on contemporary Iranian historiography and an open discussion.

Bardia is an independent artist who studied fine arts at Tehran University. Currently, he is working on his autobiography in the format of a graphic novel. In 2024, he was a fellow at the Berlin Artistic Research Programme as part of the „Fellowship Programm Weltoffenes Berlin 2024”, funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion.

Joris Bas Backer was born in 1981 in the Netherlands, just a short bike ride from the coast. After studying art in Amsterdam he came to Berlin in 2003 where he now works as a comic artist and illustrator. His graphic novel „Kisses for Jet“ was published in 2020 by Jaja Verlag and in 2021 in English by Nobrow Press. His short comics have been nominated for the Plastieken Plunk (BE) and the GINCO Award (DE).

Dr Mahroo Moosavi is an historian of early modern Iran and the broader Persianate world with a focus on the intersections of art and literature. She is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the 4A_Lab Programme at Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz, Max-Planck Institute, in collaboration with the Museum of Islamic Art, Pergamon Museum, Berlin. She held postdoctoral fellowships and visiting lectureships at University of Oxford and University of London. She is a former Lecturer in Architectural History and Theory at University of Sydney.