Rybon Art Center is an artist-run initiative based in Tehran. It was established in 2008 to encourage artistic innovations and experimentations among local artists and explore the possible exchange of ideas and knowledge in the contemporary critical art of Iran beyond ethnic and regional boundaries. Rybon Art Center was started by Tooraj Khamenehzadeh, then Reza Farnam and Mohammad Shishechiha were joined as founding members. Two years later, Negin Mahzoun and Hamed Jaberha joined the family. In addition, Rybon Art Center has a close partner called Rybon Doc, focusing on Iranian Documentary Cinema established by Amir Hossein Sanaei. Rybon family, with the notion of collectivity as its core, grew and have had changes during the time. Each person has played a different role in shaping Rybon's story, including but not exclusive to Arvin Ilbeigi, Janan Nozari, and Amin Bagheri.
During these years, Rybon has initiated and conducted numerous projects, including artist-in-residence programs, local and international artist workshops, art shares and artist talks, screenings, and facilitating international art exchanges. Despite the history of artist residency globally, in the early years of Rybon's activity, this form of art practice did not have a strong background in Iran. Therefore, Rybon, from the very beginning, concentrated on different types of artist-in-residence projects, which facilitated dialogue and exchange of ideas among artists in Iran.
Rybon started its first artist-in-residence program in 2012 in collaboration with local artistic and cultural institutes, inviting established artists from neighboring countries. Organizing two International Artists' Workshops in 2012 and 2016 in Tehran was another step toward establishing artist-in-residency culture.
Impediments for holding international artist-in-residence programs in Iran led to devising a new form, namely Exchange Program by Rybon. The first of these Exchange Programs was born in 2013 in collaboration with Organhaus Art Space in Chongqing, China and Mohsen Gallery in Tehran, Iran.
Rybon is not active now and this website is an archive of Rybon's projects from 2011 to 2017.
As an international, nonpolitical, autonomous initiative, Rybon Art Center aims to promote innovation and experimentation of art among established and emerging artists and to explore the possibilities of exchanging ideas and knowledge across ethnic, regional and artistic borders.