Ava Ansari
MA Arts Politics Class of 2011
BA Public Relations and Journalism, The Communication School of Allameh Tabatabaei University in Tehran
Since 2010, Ava Ansari has been exploring the possibilities of mediating technologies—telephonic, telepresence, heterotopic, and embodied memory-based—creating temporary autonomous celebratory zones and designing body-conscious environments that subvert fixed notions of performance and governance. Ansari is one of the first performance artists to stage hybrid productions, rehearsals, exhibitions, and workshops between Iran, the U.S., and beyond, redefining both the possibilities of creation beyond distance and the very notion of the black box theater and the classroom. Integrating her research, artistic, curatorial, translation, and interpretation practices, Ansari develops critical approaches to designing multilocation and multilingual spaces that cultivate transnational sensations of belonging.
Recent projects include “POETIC SOCIETIES” (2017–present), a curatorial and design lab for body-conscious performance and governance (Telepresence as anti-gallery, Centre Pompidou, 2021), “SUBWAY” (2012–present), a mobile app for public dance beyond prohibitive laws (Vital Media, MIT Press, Michael Nitsche, 2022, pp. 99–108); and “THE BACK ROOM” (2010–14), a pedagogical and curatorial project fostering critical dialogue between artists and curators in Iran and the U.S. (Alternative Iran, Stanford Press, Pamela Karimi, 2022)
Ansari is the Founding Director of Poetic Societies and has served as Faculty Curator at the Global Hub for Innovation of the Michigan State University; Curatorial Manager of the Art Jameel U.S. Tour; Curatorial Advisor at the Brown Institute for Media Innovation; Marketing Consultant at Aperture Foundation; and Assistant Curator at Silkroad Gallery. Her recent honors include the 2024 Kresge Fellowship and MAP Fund awards in 2019 and 2021. Ansari holds an MA in ArtsPolitics from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and a BA in Media Studies from Allameh Tabataba’i University’s School of Communication in Tehran.