Mouthful

Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art opened in October 1977. The building is a spiral corridor swirling down into the ground. At the bottom centre of the spiral, a sculpture by artist Noriyuki Haraguchi (1946, Japan) is installed permanently. The artwork titled Matter and Mind (1977) is a large steel basin filled with used engine oil, acquired after being exhibited at documenta 6 the same year. In 2017 and as part of a film production, Shirin Sabahi organized Haraguchi’s return to Tehran to oversee the restoration of his work. Starting from a curiosity about what lies under the black surface, the resulting film, Mouthful, is both the means and the end to the project of restoration.