Tina Farifteh is an Iranian-Dutch visual artist based in the Netherlands. She obtained Master’s Degrees from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam and a Bachelor’s Degree from the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague. Thanks to this academic and cultural background, she is used to seeing the world from different angles. In her work, she reflects on how man-made power structures such as nation states and corporations impact the lives of ordinary people. Often focusing on people not only excluded from the privileges granted by the dominant political and economic systems, but also damaged by these to make the system ‘work’. Central to her work is the role of images and how these influence our thoughts, emotions and behaviour.
Her photographic approach is research-based and conceptual and often combines images, audio, text and data. She seduces us into looking at topics we prefer to look away from, because of their complexity or discomfort. In her photographic project Killer Skies (2018), she explored the impact of the ‘dronization’ of armies. For her audiovisual installation The Flood (2021) she carried out extensive research into the situation of refugees on the move or stuck at European borders, as well as the political language used to dehumanise and frame refugees as a ‘natural disaster’, normalising the absurdity of how we currently treat them.
In the short documentary Kitten or Refugee?, she researches how empathy works and why we behave empathically towards some and indifferently or with cruelty towards others. Kitten or Refugee? was selected for the Debut Competition and premiered at The Netherlands Film Festival (NFF) 2023. Tina in Sexbierum is a multimedia project on displacement, detachment, assimilation, loss and the longing to have a home which will be presented at BredaPhoto2024.
Farifteh graduated with honours from The Royal Academy of Arts, The Hague and is a member of Futures, a European photography platform that brings together talents and expertise. She has won the Royal Academy Bachelor Award, Fotofestival Naarden Talent Award and second prize in the De Zilveren Camera photography awards, in the Storytelling category. In 2023 she was one of the selected artists for NFF Fellowship 2023.
Her photographic approach is research-based and conceptual and often combines images, audio, text and data. She seduces us into looking at topics we prefer to look away from, because of their complexity or discomfort. In her photographic project Killer Skies (2018), she explored the impact of the ‘dronization’ of armies. For her audiovisual installation The Flood (2021) she carried out extensive research into the situation of refugees on the move or stuck at European borders, as well as the political language used to dehumanise and frame refugees as a ‘natural disaster’, normalising the absurdity of how we currently treat them.
In the short documentary Kitten or Refugee?, she researches how empathy works and why we behave empathically towards some and indifferently or with cruelty towards others. Kitten or Refugee? was selected for the Debut Competition and premiered at The Netherlands Film Festival (NFF) 2023. Tina in Sexbierum is a multimedia project on displacement, detachment, assimilation, loss and the longing to have a home which will be presented at BredaPhoto2024.
Farifteh graduated with honours from The Royal Academy of Arts, The Hague and is a member of Futures, a European photography platform that brings together talents and expertise. She has won the Royal Academy Bachelor Award, Fotofestival Naarden Talent Award and second prize in the De Zilveren Camera photography awards, in the Storytelling category. In 2023 she was one of the selected artists for NFF Fellowship 2023.
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Education
2021
Bachelor in Arts (Photography), Royal Academy of Art The Hague
Exhibitions & Commissions
2023
Kitten or Refugee, ROZENSTRAAT, Amsterdam
The Flood, The Fire In Their Eyes, Kunstlinie, Almere
ik en jij, Refresh Amsterdam Museum, Amsterdam
ik en jij, No Limits Art Castle, Sexyland, Amsterdam
ik en jij, UNFAIR, Amsterdam
Iran Protests, Resilient Rebels, Museum Helmond
Kitten or Refugee, The Netherlands Film Festival
The Flood, Refresh Amsterdam Museum, Amsterdam
Vrije Vogels, BredaPhoto, Breda
The Flood, Video Art Miden, Kalamata, Greece
The Flood, RAW Photo Triennale Worpswede, Germany
Iran Protests, Gevel Expo Paradiso, Amsterdam
Qoqnoos ققنوس - You can’t burn women made of fire (curator and participating artist)
2022
The Flood, No Access group exhibition in the Former NATO Headquarters in Maastricht
The Flood, No Access group exhibition in the Former NATO Headquarters in Maastricht‘The Flood’, Melkweg Expo in collaboration with Holland Festival, Amsterdam
The Flood, The New Current exhibition as part of Art Rotterdam
The Flood, De Zilveren Camera exhibition, Museum Hilversum
2021
Commissioned work for The Royal Academy of Arts and Royal Conservatoire, The Hague
Selected for MIAP (Message In A Photo) fund and collective with theme ‘Future of Nature’
Talent Award exhibition at Fotofestival Naarden
Graduation show at Royal Academy of Arts The Hague
2020
Commissioned work for Bartiméus Foundation, Amsterdam
Mother Tongue, The Grey Space in the Middle, The Hague
2018-2020
Mother Tongue, The Grey Space in the Middle, The Hague
Killer Skies, To Infinity and Beyond, BredaPhoto, Breda
Ontology of Power, Forgetful Number, Kulturni Centar Lab, Novi Sad, Serbia
Publications & Talks
2023: Selected Press
Trigger Fomu - ‘Are We Angry Enough?’ The cover image and an article on female rage - read
Mister Motley, review ‘ik en jij - read
Podcast van Pakhuis de Zwijger - listen
‘Witte Kamer’, review ‘Kitten or Refugee’, De Groene Amsterdammer - read
‘Hoe kan het dat het leed van vluchtelingen ons niet raakt?’’, interview in De Volkskrant - read
‘Deze filmmaker stelt de vraag: waarom redden we de een wel, en de ander niet?’ Interview Vice - read
‘Een Uur Cultuur’ regarding ‘Kitten or Refugee’, Radio 1 - listen
‘Waarom halen we sommige vluchtelingen zelf met de auto op en laten we anderen verdrinken?, Metro News - read
‘Empathie heeft ook een donkere kant’, interview DocTalks, 2Doc - watch
De Societeit (NTR), interview - watch
‘Is het dan zo erg dat we hier zijn?’ interview in Het Parool - read
Nooit Meer Slapen (vpro), interview - listen
Een jaar na de moord op Mahsa Amini toont ‘Vrije Vogels’ de gezichten achter het Iraanse protest interview reagarding ‘Vrije Vogels’ - read
Mister Motley, Kunst is Lang, interview - listen
‘Vrijheid ter grootte van een nagel: de Melkweg in Amsterdam toont werk over Iraanse vrouwen in verzet’ Volkskrant review ‘Qoqnoos’ - read
PF on Qoqnoos - read
Greif x FUTURES interview with talent Tina Farifteh - read
Diaspora Radio, interview - listen
Een Uur Cultuur regarding ‘Qoqnoos’, Radio 1 - listen
NRC magazine interview ‘Rising Stars: Photography’ - read
2023: Selected panels, screenings and talks
Kunsthal Rotterdam, Framing Humanity during the exhibition on Ai Wei Wei, artist talk on empathy and images, in collaboration with Roffa Mon Amour
KABK Studiom Generale, screening Kitten or Refugee and artist talk
Oxfam Novib, viewing and talk on how to create empathy without dehumanisation
Amsterdam Museum Refresh, Meet the Makers Roundtable
NFF Fellowship Digital Culture, fellowship presentation
Melkweg Cinema, screening for Fundraising for children in Gaza
Kriterion, viewing Kitten or Refugee + The Flood and artist talk
TivoliVredenburg, viewing and expert panel talk
Fotodok, De Ander, Het beeld en Wij, screening and artist talk on migration and perception
The Netherlands Film Festival, viewing and artist talk
Pakhuis de Zwijger, viewing and interactive session with cultural makers on empathy
World Press Photo, The Stories That Matter, panel talk on the role of photography on solidarity across borders
2022
‘Midden in de meedogenloze installatie van Tina Farifteh, terwijl een computerstem de doden telt’, Volkskrant review ‘The Flood’ read
Artist talk on empathy and images, Amsterdam Museum X Pakhuis de Zwijger, Amsterdam
Artist talk about the process and context of The Flood and research on empathy and images, Melkweg, Amsterdam
Impact strategy talk at Filmpact, Ghent
Impact strategy talk Vers Film Festival, Amsterdam
‘Social Impact of Creativity’ speaker, organised by What Design Can Do in Stadsschouwburg, Amsterdam
‘Impact in practice’ panel discussion, organised by NAPA (Netherlands Audiovisual Producers’ Alliance) during Movies That Matter festival, The Hague
Impact Strategy guest lectures, The Netherlands Film Academy, Amsterdam
‘Tina in Sexbierum’ trailer presented at MIAP closing event in Sexyland, Amsterdam
2018 - 2021
‘Golven van Empathie’ publication of ‘The Flood’ in PF photography magazine
Artist Talk at ‘Picture This’ in Fotomuseum, The Hague
‘How Turkey became a drone power (and what that tells us about the future of warfare)’
Publication of ‘Killer Skies’ in The Correspondent (Dutch and international editions)
Artist talk at MotMot Gallery during BredaPhoto, Breda
Projects
2022 - 2023
Tina in Sexbierum, a multimedia project about displacement and the desire to have a home (in development, on show at BredaPhoto 2024
ik en jij, an audio installation through which I examine whether there is a way to continue to hear one another amidst suffering, dehumanisation, grief and heated emotions in Israel and Palestine
Kitten or Refugee?, a short film, an experimental documentary which explores the two sides of human nature, the empathic side and the hateful side
Vrije Vogels, an AV installation as a tribute to Jina Amini and all the courageous freedom fighters in Iran
Iran Protests, found and edited social media footage
2020 - 2021
The Flood, an audiovisual installation about dehumanisation of refugees using water metaphors
Names Unknown, a printed translation of the installation, focused on the act of looking and questioning the depiction of refugees in the media
Empathy, the image and me, thesis about how empathy works, how images work, what my role is as an artist, and whether empathy is going to save the world
2018 - 2019
Hunt For Yield, a photographic project and publication about speculation by investment firms on our primary needs, such as the need for housing
Killer Skies, a photographic project and installation about the dronisation of armies and the future of warfare
2021
Bachelor in Arts (Photography), Royal Academy of Art The Hague
Exhibitions & Commissions
2023
Kitten or Refugee, ROZENSTRAAT, Amsterdam
The Flood, The Fire In Their Eyes, Kunstlinie, Almere
ik en jij, Refresh Amsterdam Museum, Amsterdam
ik en jij, No Limits Art Castle, Sexyland, Amsterdam
ik en jij, UNFAIR, Amsterdam
Iran Protests, Resilient Rebels, Museum Helmond
Kitten or Refugee, The Netherlands Film Festival
The Flood, Refresh Amsterdam Museum, Amsterdam
Vrije Vogels, BredaPhoto, Breda
The Flood, Video Art Miden, Kalamata, Greece
The Flood, RAW Photo Triennale Worpswede, Germany
Iran Protests, Gevel Expo Paradiso, Amsterdam
Qoqnoos ققنوس - You can’t burn women made of fire (curator and participating artist)
2022
The Flood, No Access group exhibition in the Former NATO Headquarters in Maastricht
The Flood, No Access group exhibition in the Former NATO Headquarters in Maastricht‘The Flood’, Melkweg Expo in collaboration with Holland Festival, Amsterdam
The Flood, The New Current exhibition as part of Art Rotterdam
The Flood, De Zilveren Camera exhibition, Museum Hilversum
2021
Commissioned work for The Royal Academy of Arts and Royal Conservatoire, The Hague
Selected for MIAP (Message In A Photo) fund and collective with theme ‘Future of Nature’
Talent Award exhibition at Fotofestival Naarden
Graduation show at Royal Academy of Arts The Hague
2020
Commissioned work for Bartiméus Foundation, Amsterdam
Mother Tongue, The Grey Space in the Middle, The Hague
2018-2020
Mother Tongue, The Grey Space in the Middle, The Hague
Killer Skies, To Infinity and Beyond, BredaPhoto, Breda
Ontology of Power, Forgetful Number, Kulturni Centar Lab, Novi Sad, Serbia
Publications & Talks
2023: Selected Press
Trigger Fomu - ‘Are We Angry Enough?’ The cover image and an article on female rage - read
Mister Motley, review ‘ik en jij - read
Podcast van Pakhuis de Zwijger - listen
‘Witte Kamer’, review ‘Kitten or Refugee’, De Groene Amsterdammer - read
‘Hoe kan het dat het leed van vluchtelingen ons niet raakt?’’, interview in De Volkskrant - read
‘Deze filmmaker stelt de vraag: waarom redden we de een wel, en de ander niet?’ Interview Vice - read
‘Een Uur Cultuur’ regarding ‘Kitten or Refugee’, Radio 1 - listen
‘Waarom halen we sommige vluchtelingen zelf met de auto op en laten we anderen verdrinken?, Metro News - read
‘Empathie heeft ook een donkere kant’, interview DocTalks, 2Doc - watch
De Societeit (NTR), interview - watch
‘Is het dan zo erg dat we hier zijn?’ interview in Het Parool - read
Nooit Meer Slapen (vpro), interview - listen
Een jaar na de moord op Mahsa Amini toont ‘Vrije Vogels’ de gezichten achter het Iraanse protest interview reagarding ‘Vrije Vogels’ - read
Mister Motley, Kunst is Lang, interview - listen
‘Vrijheid ter grootte van een nagel: de Melkweg in Amsterdam toont werk over Iraanse vrouwen in verzet’ Volkskrant review ‘Qoqnoos’ - read
PF on Qoqnoos - read
Greif x FUTURES interview with talent Tina Farifteh - read
Diaspora Radio, interview - listen
Een Uur Cultuur regarding ‘Qoqnoos’, Radio 1 - listen
NRC magazine interview ‘Rising Stars: Photography’ - read
2023: Selected panels, screenings and talks
Kunsthal Rotterdam, Framing Humanity during the exhibition on Ai Wei Wei, artist talk on empathy and images, in collaboration with Roffa Mon Amour
KABK Studiom Generale, screening Kitten or Refugee and artist talk
Oxfam Novib, viewing and talk on how to create empathy without dehumanisation
Amsterdam Museum Refresh, Meet the Makers Roundtable
NFF Fellowship Digital Culture, fellowship presentation
Melkweg Cinema, screening for Fundraising for children in Gaza
Kriterion, viewing Kitten or Refugee + The Flood and artist talk
TivoliVredenburg, viewing and expert panel talk
Fotodok, De Ander, Het beeld en Wij, screening and artist talk on migration and perception
The Netherlands Film Festival, viewing and artist talk
Pakhuis de Zwijger, viewing and interactive session with cultural makers on empathy
World Press Photo, The Stories That Matter, panel talk on the role of photography on solidarity across borders
2022
‘Midden in de meedogenloze installatie van Tina Farifteh, terwijl een computerstem de doden telt’, Volkskrant review ‘The Flood’ read
Artist talk on empathy and images, Amsterdam Museum X Pakhuis de Zwijger, Amsterdam
Artist talk about the process and context of The Flood and research on empathy and images, Melkweg, Amsterdam
Impact strategy talk at Filmpact, Ghent
Impact strategy talk Vers Film Festival, Amsterdam
‘Social Impact of Creativity’ speaker, organised by What Design Can Do in Stadsschouwburg, Amsterdam
‘Impact in practice’ panel discussion, organised by NAPA (Netherlands Audiovisual Producers’ Alliance) during Movies That Matter festival, The Hague
Impact Strategy guest lectures, The Netherlands Film Academy, Amsterdam
‘Tina in Sexbierum’ trailer presented at MIAP closing event in Sexyland, Amsterdam
2018 - 2021
‘Golven van Empathie’ publication of ‘The Flood’ in PF photography magazine
Artist Talk at ‘Picture This’ in Fotomuseum, The Hague
‘How Turkey became a drone power (and what that tells us about the future of warfare)’
Publication of ‘Killer Skies’ in The Correspondent (Dutch and international editions)
Artist talk at MotMot Gallery during BredaPhoto, Breda
Projects
2022 - 2023
Tina in Sexbierum, a multimedia project about displacement and the desire to have a home (in development, on show at BredaPhoto 2024
ik en jij, an audio installation through which I examine whether there is a way to continue to hear one another amidst suffering, dehumanisation, grief and heated emotions in Israel and Palestine
Kitten or Refugee?, a short film, an experimental documentary which explores the two sides of human nature, the empathic side and the hateful side
Vrije Vogels, an AV installation as a tribute to Jina Amini and all the courageous freedom fighters in Iran
Iran Protests, found and edited social media footage
2020 - 2021
The Flood, an audiovisual installation about dehumanisation of refugees using water metaphors
Names Unknown, a printed translation of the installation, focused on the act of looking and questioning the depiction of refugees in the media
Empathy, the image and me, thesis about how empathy works, how images work, what my role is as an artist, and whether empathy is going to save the world
2018 - 2019
Hunt For Yield, a photographic project and publication about speculation by investment firms on our primary needs, such as the need for housing
Killer Skies, a photographic project and installation about the dronisation of armies and the future of warfare
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