Navvab neighbourhood, Tehran University and Laleh Park, Tehran, Iran.

1mile² Tehran is being delivered in partnership with Kianoosh Vahabi, director of the Interdisciplinary Office of Art and Architecture (IOAA). As structured social interaction is difficult in Tehran at the present time, the mapping and community engagement will be carried out by a team of local artists in collaboration with an ecologist from Plan4Land who will document their processes of exploration and interact with members of the local community informally.

Four local artists, in collaboration with IOAA, will spend time mapping 1mile² Tehran, which incorporates the Museum of Modern Art, Tehran University, the Laleh Park, and the Navvab neighbourhood – a notorious example of structural urban regeneration that has failed its community residents. Together, the artists will map the area’s cultural, aesthetic and social diversity.

UK-based artist Andrew Dodds will initially build relationships with the local artists online through the website before travelling out for a research trip in the new year. Andrew is a cross media artist working with sculpture, installation, video, sound, publication.He uses a range of roles and strategies within his practice including those of researcher, writer and curator to explore the fluid interface between ‘nature’ and culture.

Visiting Arts is currently in the process of selecting the local artists, and 1mile² Tehran activity will officially begin in December 2009.