The latest iteration of Carnegie Museum of Art’s online exhibition series features Reign of Winter, a silent, animated video work by Rokni Haerizadeh (Iranian, b. 1978). The film was initially exhibited as part of the 2013 Carnegie International.

The film follows the 2011 wedding procession of Kate Middleton and Prince William from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace; however, the live-action components of the footage have been replaced with fantastical forms and anthropomorphic figures. Haerizadeh painted over still images of broadcast coverage, creating a dynamic stop-motion animation film that invites viewers to consider how mass media influences our perceptions and interpretations of current events, traditions, and empire. His reworked compositions, which he refers to as “moving paintings,” turn the pristine, formal celebration into a surreal event that features a bathtub taking the place of a carriage and a congregation full of animals. Although Reign of Winter was created during 2012 and 2013, the work still speaks to the role of the artist in critiquing the highly choreographed rituals that command media attention today.

Rokni Haerizadeh: Reign of Winter is organized by Kiki Teshome, the Margaret Powell Curatorial Fellow at Carnegie Museum of Art.

About the Artist

Rokni Haerizadeh was born in Tehran in 1978 and currently lives and works in Dubai. His paintings and stop-motion animation films satirize social and public gatherings—particularly weddings, religious festivals, funerals and banquets—to reveal the absurdities embedded in tradition and ritual. Haerizadeh received his BA in fine arts and his MA in painting from the University of Tehran. His works are held in public and private collections including the Guggenheim, New York; Carnegie Museum of Art; the British Museum; Tate Modern; the Frye Art Museum, Seattle; and the JPMorgan Chase Art Collection. Haerizadeh maintains a collaborative practice with Ramin Haerizadeh and Hesam Rahmanian, and together they have staged exhibitions internationally.