Pen’s Pals: Putting on for Tehran in the Bay

Inside of Mohammad Gorjestani's office, there's hella artwork. The filmmaker and co-founder of Even/Odd Studios, has painted collages of wrestlers from Iran mounted near photographed images of Bay Area sideshows. There's stories embroidered on skateboard decks, family heirlooms in the form of pottery and even a tiny replica IranAir airplane. Books written in Farsi line the walls, and Persian carpets on the floor, require you to change out of your footwear and into slippers, as is the custom in Iran. Gorjestani was raised on the west side of San Jose and has lived in San Francisco for two decades, but his heart remains tied to the place he was born, Tehran, Iran. He has childhood memories from his homeland, the last of which are from when he and his family left the country during the Iran-Iraq War. He hasn't visited home since moving to the United States, but he has never been severed from the culture. As he soaked up all of the game the Bay Area offers, he simultaneously held true to his roots. At the same time, he grew critical of the United States; now he uses his art to question the forces that cause oppression here and abroad. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices