Parkingallery Projects was an independent platform and project space, founded in 1998 by some art students in Tehran. It was located in the garage of artist/curator Amirali Ghasemi’s parents’ house.

Initially, it was intended to serve as a temporary exhibition space and design studio. But the conditions and limitations of the formal art setting of that period, along with increasing internet use, led the founding members to expand the scope of their activities into an online project space. 

In 2002, the Parkingallery.com website was published. The website started as an online gallery to present the new generation of graphic designers, photographers, and contemporary artists. It provided extensive documentation of past shows, links, videos, and other essential information, helping improve access to both works and artists.

Meanwhile, Parkingallery was among the first to organize multimedia exhibitions inside Iran. (Namely Deep Depression (2004), Transition (2005), Deeper Depression (2006) in Tehran and Esfahan). This is how Negar Azimi portrays Parkingallery in 2006: 

“As a physical parallel to the virtual gallery, Ghasemi now also holds self-initiated, self-funded, and self-curated exhibitions in the garage of his parents’ home. He has hosted some thirty-four young artists on his website and even larger numbers in actual exhibitions within the parking area. When an exhibition is shut down in Tehran, it is not uncommon for it to find its way either to Ghasemi’s Website or the concrete home provided by the garage.” (Azimi, Negar. Don’t Cry For Me, America. In Lila Azam Zanganeh, (Ed.) My Sister, Guard Your Veil; My Brother, Guard Your Eyes (p.107). Boston: Beacon Press)

These were followed by overseas projects such as “Lost in no space” and “Iran etc.” in Istanbul; the workshop of “Reloading Images” in Tehran and Berlin; “sideways in Tehran showcased both in Iran and the Netherlands and ….

In the very early years, the new generation of artists welcomed this informal space. It led to the accumulation of a considerable number of experimental artworks, including media and performance art. Thus, the archival feature of the Parkingallery was highlighted. So the archive began operating as an independent section titled “Parking Video Library”. 

So far, this living archive has been updated through exchanges of works with various institutions, collectives, and independent artists worldwide. 

At this time, the introduction of the Limited Access Festival has significantly helped in collecting and showcasing video works, as well as enriching the Parking Video Library. 

Eight editions of this open call video, sound, and performance festival have taken place since 2007. The festival has always sought to feature underrepresented, prominent, and emerging artists from around the world. The festival has worked with guest curators and collaborated with various individuals, institutions, and archives in Berlin, Stockholm, Helsinki, Cairo, Ljubljana, Paris, Toronto, San Francisco, Vienna, Montreal, Brussels, and The Hague in recent years.

PVL introduced the vibrant new wave of video art in its early days. It has been consistently presented through curated video programs, artist talks, open studios, multimedia exhibitions, workshops, and online screenings.

Though the physical space of Parkingallery projects in the northwest of Tehran has been closed since February 2014, the platform has continued its nomadic activities and projects. And since the fall of 2015, Parking Video Library has been accessible for researchers, curators, and art students via New Media Society’s project space upon request. Ever since, N ew Media Society and Parking Video Library have joined forces to curate programs beyond conventional platforms and within current settings.

The archive consists of a broad range of moving images and multimedia works by prominent and emerging artists from Iran and elsewhere. Approximately 350 contemporary Iranian artists have shared one or several works with this archive. More than 50 screening programs have been curated with works of PVL. 

On its 18th anniversary, Parking Video Library undoubtedly plays a prominent role in preserving/presenting video art and moving images, documenting sound and performance in Iran, and building knowledge around its expanding subjects of interest.