Taraneh Hemami works with materials of history, organizing archives of images, data and information, weaving complimentary and contradictory narratives that are manifested objects, installations as well as experimental collective, collaborative and  curatorial projects. Born and raised in Tehran, Iran, and living and working in San Francisco, Hemami engages in diverse strategies to examine the careful crafting of images as propagated for power and political gain, and the manipulations of truth and historical facts, the fictionalized realities that have infiltrated our everyday lives. Taraneh’s conceptually driven works shift in material and presentation: shimmering shattered glass prayer rugs, laser cut wool carpet map of the city of Tehran, beaded curtains replicating governmental posters and postage stamps, a library of banned books. Taraneh’s handcrafted replications of historical archives serve as commemoratives to events, places and people, while commenting on tools of manipulation and persuasion used across nations and histories. Her sources have varied from an image downloaded from a US governmental site for examination of perception and stereotyping in the Most Wanted series to a collection of banned books and propaganda of the Iranian underground movement that narrate the Iranian revolution in the Theory of Survival project. Hemami’s architectural sculptures become platforms for interaction and engagement, personal reflections, and public action. She explores themes of displacement, preservation, and representation in installations that intermingle with the spaces they occupy, complicating their identity and at times altering or enhancing their function. Her collective and curatorial projects create connections through experimental projects between artists, writers and scholars, while promoting and provoking dialog as part of their process and presentation,to explore various topics from martyrdom to the reflections of the everyday. She has received awards from the Creative Capital, Creative Work Fund, Center for Cultural Innovation, and the California Council for the Humanities, as well as San Francisco Arts Commission. Her works have been exhibited widely including at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Southern Exposure, Victoria and Albert Museum, Boghossian Foundation, and at the Sharjah International Biennial.