Artist Talk: abbas akhavan

Join us for an artist talk by abbas akhavan – a leading contemporary artist, currently representing Canada at the 2026 Venice Biennale. akvanan is deeply and widely admired for the intuitive, observational, and ethical qualities of his artistic practice, which ranges from site-specific ephemeral installations to drawing, video, sculpture and performance. We hope that you will join in welcoming abbas to our community, and receiving what he shares with us! About Big Ideas The Big Ideas in Arts + Culture lecture series is co-presented by CAFKA – Contemporary Art Forum Kitchener + Area and Musagetes. Big Ideas is a platform for artists to engage curious audiences, sharing ideas that are transforming arts and culture. We host Canadian and international speakers whose practices exemplify some of the most forward-thinking, deep engagements in public spaces and communities. Thank you to Musagetes, Canada Council for the Arts, and the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery for supporting the presentation of abbas akhavan’s Big Ideas lecture. About the Artist abbas akhavan’s (b. 1977, Tehran; lives/works: Montreal and Berlin) practice ranges from site-specific ephemeral installations to drawing, video, sculpture and performance. The direction of his research is influenced by his engagement with the places in which he works—their histories and architectures, as well as the economies and inhabitants that shape them. The garden—and by extension, the spaces and species just outside the home, such as backyards, public parks and other domesticated landscapes—has been a foundational and recurring subject in his work. Recent and upcoming solo exhibitions include Entre chien et loup Canadian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2026); Variations on a Garden, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (2026); Curtain call at Copenhagen Contemporary and Cast for a Folly at Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen (2023). Recent group exhibitions include Future Geographies at the Vancouver Art Gallery (2026), Survival in the 21st Century at the Deichtorhallen, Hamburg (2024); and Réclamer la terre at Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2022). akhavan received an MFA from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver (2006), and a BFA from Concordia University, Montréal (2004). Recent residencies include Fogo Island Arts, Fogo Island, Canada (2019, 2016, 2013); Atelier Calder, Saché, France (2017); and Flora ars+natura, Bogotá, Colombia (2015). He is the recipient of the The Hnatyshyn Foundation Mid-Career Award for Excellence in Visual Arts (2025); Fellbach Triennial Award (2017); Sobey Art Award (2015); Abraaj Group Art Prize (2014); and the Berliner Kunstpreis (2012). In 2027 akhavan will be teaching as a guest professor at the Städelschule school of art in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.