SMH: This doctor fled Iran 15 years ago. Now he’s using art to speak up

SMH: This doctor fled Iran 15 years ago. Now he’s using art to speak up

By Angus Thomson

“I’m preparing for a show that I’ve been working towards for two years, but I’m carrying with me the grief and heartbreak and hurt of what I’m witnessing happening in my country,” he said. “I’m so supportive of [the protests] because I think it’s a movement of a minority – women. For the first time after 43 years [since the Iranian Revolution], we see these voices coming out of Iran.”

Tahayori fled persecution in Iran as a queer person and arrived in Australia in 2007 with degrees in medicine and photography.

He pursued a career in medicine first, and he still balances his work as a rehabilitation specialist at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital while studying a Master of Fine Art. He abandoned photography after his camera was stolen not long after arriving in Australia, but a trip to Iran with his partner in 2014 helped him rediscover the cultural riches which fuelled his early creative endeavours.

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Final call! This is your last chance to apply for our BFA degree for 2026.
 
Applications close 29 January.
 
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Join us from 6–9pm on Thursday 22 January for the opening of SEARCHERS: Graffiti and Contemporary Art.

Featuring Ben Aitken, Howard Arkley, BAGL, BREAK, Andrew Browne, Daniel Crooks, Adam Cullen, Mikala Dwyer, Dale Frank, Shaun Gladwell, Brendan Huntley, Rhys John Kaye, Luke Kennedy, LAZY, Mim Libro, Fiona Lowry, Eddie Martin, MACH, Tony McGillick, Paul McNeil, TV Moore, Callum Morton, Tresor Murace, Sidney Nolan, POWER, Ben Quilty, Scott Redford, Reko Rennie, RUM, Leslie Rice, Joan Ross, Khaled Sabsabi, Tim Silver, SNAIL, SPICE, Bridget Stehli, Maya Stocks, Latai Taumoepeau & TAVEN

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Presented as part of @sydney_festival.

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Sidney Nolan, ‘Untitled’, 1983, spray can enamel on canvas, Nolan Collection, managed by Canberra Museum and Gallery on behalf of the Australian Government
Marking 20 years of the National Art School Gallery, we are thrilled to share this year's program of ambitious group and solo exhibitions that foster critical appreciation and innovative art practice.
 
SEARCHERS: Graffiti and Contemporary Art
17 January – 11 April
Opening: Thurs 22 January, 6pm
Bringing together over thirty of Australia's most dynamic artists united by one charged medium: spray paint, presented as part of @sydney_festival.
 
QUEER CONTEMPORARY 
Liz Bradshaw: I didn't expect to live this long
13 February – 7 March
Opening: Thurs 12 February, 6pm
Experience a large-scale sculpture and installation by NAS alum Liz Bradshaw as part of @sydneymardigras.
 
Mitch Cairns: Artist's Mouth
1 May – 11 July
Opening: Thurs 30 April, 6pm
Presented with the @instituteofmodernart, the largest and most comprehensive exhibition by Sydney-based artist and NAS alum Mitch Cairns.
 
Margaret Olley: Australian Intimiste
31 July – 25 October
Opening: Thurs 30 July, 6pm
Celebrating the legacy of NAS alum and one of Australia's most beloved painters, Margaret Olley AC.
 
The Postgrad Show 
6–15 November
 
The Grad Show
4–13 December

Full program 🔗 in bio.
 
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Howard Arkley, 'Triple fronted', 1987, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Mollie and Jim Gowing Bequest Fund 2014 © The Estate of Howard Arkley, courtesy Kalli Rolfe Contemporary Art, image © Art Gallery of New South Wales
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