A tree in the fog | Cinéma Lumière London
Film programme curated by Anne-Sophie Dinant
28.06.2026
Takahiko Iimura, Agnes Varda, Abbas Kiarostami, Stella F. Simon and Miklós Bándy
Curated by Anne-Sophie Dinant
In collaboration with artist Armineh Negahdari and presented alongside her solo exhibition The Living River at Cell Project Space, open from 3rd June – 9th August 2026.
Sunday 28th June, 6pm-9pm
Ciné Lumière - Institut Français
17 Queensberry Pl, South Kensington, London SW7 2DW
RSVP Booking is essential with tickets available at Cinéma Lumière to be published shortly
This film programme extends Armineh Negahdari’s exhibition The Living River into the cinematic realm, reflecting the poetic foundations of her drawing practice. It unfolds around the idea that her work is deeply shaped by an instinctive dialogue with cinema.
Cinema plays a significant role in Negahdari’s thinking and artistic process, and the films included in the programme invite the viewer to make direct connections with the drawings presented in the exhibition. Central to the programme is Where Is the Friend’s House? by Abbas Kiarostami, a film that formally resonates with Negahdari’s aesthetics and profound link to poetry; so important to Kiarostami himself, also a visual artist and poet.
Negahdari’s work like Kiarostami’s cinema is grounded in minimal forms, creating a free space for emotion and imagination. Kiarostami’s use of repetition, texture and natural elements echoes poetic structures such as rhythm, silence and metaphor, and closely resonate with the compositional logic of Negahdari’s drawings. Subtly, she explores how instinctive forms can carry political meaning, suggesting broader reflections on lives shaped by repression and forced erasure.
More widely, the programme reflects Negahdari’s interest in experimental artists’ films that embody poetic forms. In Persian culture, poetry holds a central place in daily life as vital artistic expression shared among family and friends, also as a way of dealing with current political tensions. This sensibility informs Negahdari’s practice, shaping her openness to absorb and transform personal and collective experiences into a distinct artistic gesture.
Kiri (A Tree in the Fog) by Takahiko Iimura is a cinematic haiku: a tree echoes Negahdari’s ability to reveal the potential of a single form.
In Hands by Stella F. Simon and Miklós Bándy, gestures and abstraction merge to create a language where forms lead to reflections on bodies relating to one another.
Between documentary and fiction, Plaisirs d’Amour en Iran by Agnès Varda explores the relationships between two individuals. Details of Persian architecture become a vehicle for poetic expression, with humour and detachment.
Across these works, the programme traces a common language to two distinct artistic practices. A language rooted in poetry, allowing for minimal, instinctive representation and the evocative power of images.
Armineh Negahdari, (b.1994, Tehran) lives and works in Bordeaux. The artist presents her current solo exhibition ‘What Colour Is Your Sky Today?’ at OPEN SPACE #18 , Louis Vuitton Foundation, Paris from April and across August 2026, presented in partnership with S.M.A.K. Ghent, which will feature a solo exhibition by the artist in 2027.
Recent solo exhibitions in 2025 include Art Basel Statements, Basel, Switzerland, and ‘Un oiseau passe. Je le suis (with Aurélien Froment)’, Marcelle Alix, Paris, FR. Recent group exhibitions in 2026 include ‘Langues empruntées’, Centre International d’Art et du Paysage Île de Vassivière, FR, and ‘Selection of drawings from the collection of Antoine de Galbert’, Église Sainte-Anne, Arles, FR. Past exhibitions include ‘Sara Bichao, Diver’s flight’ Galerie Filomera Soares, Lisbon,PT; ‘Dislocations’, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, FR; ‘What happens when we cry?, Galerie Derouillon, Paris, FR, (both 2024).
Her works are held in public collections; Musée National d’Art Moderne – Centre Pompidou, Paris, FR, SMAK, Ghent, BE, and MAMC+ Saint-Etienne, FR
Anne-Sophie Dinant is an independent curator based in Bordeaux and Paris. She was previously curator at large at CAPC musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux and associate curator at South London Gallery. She also organises film and video screenings at public institutions including Tate Modern; The British Film Institute (BFI) and the ICA, London. She recently curated the exhibition 'Through the Unfolding Glass', Fabriano Contemporanea, Fabriano
Negahdari’s work like Kiarostami’s cinema is grounded in minimal forms, creating a free space for emotion and imagination. Kiarostami’s use of repetition, texture and natural elements echoes poetic structures such as rhythm, silence and metaphor, and closely resonate with the compositional logic of Negahdari’s drawings. Subtly, she explores how instinctive forms can carry political meaning, suggesting broader reflections on lives shaped by repression and forced erasure.
More widely, the programme reflects Negahdari’s interest in experimental artists’ films that embody poetic forms. In Persian culture, poetry holds a central place in daily life as vital artistic expression shared among family and friends, also as a way of dealing with current political tensions. This sensibility informs Negahdari’s practice, shaping her openness to absorb and transform personal and collective experiences into a distinct artistic gesture.
Kiri (A Tree in the Fog) by Takahiko Iimura is a cinematic haiku: a tree echoes Negahdari’s ability to reveal the potential of a single form.
In Hands by Stella F. Simon and Miklós Bándy, gestures and abstraction merge to create a language where forms lead to reflections on bodies relating to one another.
Between documentary and fiction, Plaisirs d’Amour en Iran by Agnès Varda explores the relationships between two individuals. Details of Persian architecture become a vehicle for poetic expression, with humour and detachment.
Across these works, the programme traces a common language to two distinct artistic practices. A language rooted in poetry, allowing for minimal, instinctive representation and the evocative power of images.
Armineh Negahdari, (b.1994, Tehran) lives and works in Bordeaux. The artist presents her current solo exhibition ‘What Colour Is Your Sky Today?’ at OPEN SPACE #18 , Louis Vuitton Foundation, Paris from April and across August 2026, presented in partnership with S.M.A.K. Ghent, which will feature a solo exhibition by the artist in 2027.
Recent solo exhibitions in 2025 include Art Basel Statements, Basel, Switzerland, and ‘Un oiseau passe. Je le suis (with Aurélien Froment)’, Marcelle Alix, Paris, FR. Recent group exhibitions in 2026 include ‘Langues empruntées’, Centre International d’Art et du Paysage Île de Vassivière, FR, and ‘Selection of drawings from the collection of Antoine de Galbert’, Église Sainte-Anne, Arles, FR. Past exhibitions include ‘Sara Bichao, Diver’s flight’ Galerie Filomera Soares, Lisbon,PT; ‘Dislocations’, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, FR; ‘What happens when we cry?, Galerie Derouillon, Paris, FR, (both 2024).
Her works are held in public collections; Musée National d’Art Moderne – Centre Pompidou, Paris, FR, SMAK, Ghent, BE, and MAMC+ Saint-Etienne, FR
Anne-Sophie Dinant is an independent curator based in Bordeaux and Paris. She was previously curator at large at CAPC musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux and associate curator at South London Gallery. She also organises film and video screenings at public institutions including Tate Modern; The British Film Institute (BFI) and the ICA, London. She recently curated the exhibition 'Through the Unfolding Glass', Fabriano Contemporanea, Fabriano
For all press and access related inquiries, please contact Annabelle Mödlinger, annabelle[at]cellprojects[dot]org.
Generously supported by Elephant Trust and Fluxus Art Projects, and Cinéma Lumière, London
