Inspired by Sarat Maharaj’s seminal essay “Xeno-Epistemics,” which introduces the idea of art knowledge as “inventing other ways of thinking-knowing” and “ways of knowing otherness,” Zahedi’s fellowship project embarks on an exploration of how art can reimagine its own boundaries. This initiative moves beyond conventional definitions of “Art” and “Research,” seeking instead to expand the material and conceptual foundations of artistic practice. By engaging with dialogues, embodiment, and interconnected systems, the project invites a reconsideration of how art can respond to the complex ecological challenges of our time. 

Central to Zahedi’s project is the transformation of the gallery into a dynamic space that functions as an emotional utility, a site where ecological grief can be processed and collectively experienced; through the interplay between bodies and environments. Drawing from the aesthetics of greenhouses and distilleries, the installation will incorporate a network of custom elements, blending natural and technological components to create an immersive sonic-led experience. Through this evolving landscape, Zahedi invites us to consider new forms of engagement and reflection, where the sensory and the conceptual merge, evoking a dialogue on the fragility of our planet.

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Abbas Zahedi (b. 1984, London, UK), studied medicine at University College London, before completing his MA at Central Saint Martins in 2019. Zahedi blends contemporary philosophy, poetics, and social dynamics with performative and new-media modes.

Selected exhibitions include Holding a Heart in Artifice, Nottingham Contemporary (2023); Metatopia 10013, Anonymous Gallery, New York (2022); The London Open 2022, Whitechapel Gallery, London (2022); Postwar Modern, Barbican, London (2022); Testament, Goldsmiths CCA, London (2022); Temporary Compositions, Gallery 31 Somerset House, London (2021); Yarmonics 2021, Great Yarmoth, UK (2021); D.E.VALUATION, Mécènes du Sud, Montpellier (2021); 11 & 1, Belmacz, London (2021); Governmental Fires, FUTURA, Prague (2021); In Hindsight…, Bladr, Copenhagen (2020); Ouranophobia SW3, Chelsea Sorting Office, London (2020); How To Make A How From A Why?, Fire Station, South London Gallery, London (2020); Degree Show, Central Saint Martins, London (2019); The Age of New Babylon, Lethaby Gallery, London (2018); Diaspora Pavilion, (ICF), Wolverhampton Art Gallery (2018); appetite, Apiary Studios, London (2018); Diaspora Pavilion, (ICF), Palazzo Pisani a Santa Marina, Venice (2017); rb&hArts, Royal Brompton Hospital, London (2008).

Selected interventions, projects and performances include Best Before End, Bold Tendencies, London (2023); Sonic Signals, Eastside Projects, Birmingham (2023); Frieze Artist Award commission, London, (2022); Sonic Support Group, with Neurofringe (2020 – ongoing); Radio Amnion, Technical University of Munich (2021); Becontree Forever, Create London (2021); Brick Lane Foundation, Whitechapel Gallery (2021); A Case of Med(dling)tation, Performance Exchange at Belmacz (2021); To The Sour Sowers, The Mosaic Rooms, London (2021); The Urgency of The Arts Assembly, Royal College of Art (2021); Soul Refresher, Brent Biennial, London Borough of Culture (2020); Long Table: Lament, South London Gallery (2020); AMRA, Spike Island, Bristol (2019); Rose & STEMM, Guest Projects, London (2019); Outset Grant Ceremony, Royal Academy of Arts, London (2019); The Boulevard, Tate Britain, London (2018); Studio Jum’ah, Tate Exchange, London (2018); #FakeBooze, Diaspora Pavilion, Venice (2017).

Zahedi has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Frieze Artist Award (2022); the Paul Hamlyn Foundation Awards for Artists (2021); the Serpentine Galleries’ Support Structures for Support Structures (2021); Artangel, Thinking Time (2020); Jerwood Arts Bursary (2019); Aziz Foundation Academic Scholarship (2018); and Khadijah Saye Memorial Fund Scholarship (2017).

Zahedi is an associate lecturer at the Royal College of Art (London), as well as teaching at universities across the UK and abroad.