Countdown: Biruni-Galileo-Apollo, 2019
Solo exhibition at Mercury 20 Gallery
From an early age, Persian poetry and science fiction shaped my imagination. Growing up in Shiraz, Iran, I was captivated by the poetic metaphors that likened the Moon to earthly beauty and mystery, making the cosmos feel both magical and intimately familiar. The vast night sky above the desert outside my hometown, with its oversized Moon, left a lasting impression on me.
Around the same time, Persian translations of Jules Verne’s science fiction novels expanded that sense of wonder. His stories about journeys through the deep sea, the Earth, and the Moon opened a new window onto the universe, encouraging me to imagine unseen connections between science, exploration, and storytelling. Together, these literary worlds fostered a lifelong fascination with astronomy that continues to shape my artistic practice.
This project has given me the opportunity to revisit my childhood fascination with the Moon, this time through the lens of science. The foundation for this body of work began during an extended research visit to the British Library in London in 2018, where I studied the manuscripts of the 17th-century Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei alongside those of the 11th-century Persian polymath Biruni.
In Countdown: Biruni–Galileo–Apollo, I explored humanity’s enduring fascination with the Moon across science, culture, and language, while reflecting on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar mission. I drew from archival materials in the British Library’s collection, including Biruni’s Kitab al-Tafhim and Galileo’s De Mundi Sphæra Tractatus Autographus cum Figuris. These manuscripts contain remarkable diagrams and explanations of the Moon’s phases, revealing how early scientists observed and understood the heavens. I also incorporated the writings of medieval Persian poets, the most renowned of their day, where the Moon is represented metaphorically and symbolically in verse.
Imaging the Moon, 2019
Contemporary Iranian Art & the Historical Imagination
UMass Dartmouth, MA, 2020
An exhibition of contemporary Iranian artists reflecting on Iran’s history, politics, and cultural heritage
The inspiration and foundation for Imaging the Moon series stem from two extended visits to the British Library (London, UK) and the Chester Beatty (Dublin, Ireland) undertaken by Karimi in 2018-2019 to study a selection of Persian astronomy manuscripts. The manuscripts in the custodianship of these institutions reveal intricate drawings and explanations about the Moon and stars from a bygone era. In Imaging the Moon, she has appropriated diagrams and images from the medieval archival materials that include the Kitab al-Tafhim by Biruni, Suwar al-kawākib by al-Sufi and Ajayeb al-makhlūqāt by Qazvini.
Karimi has designed her plates as layered compositions of imagery. One layer reveals iconic scientific illustrations found in those early Persian scientists’ manuscripts; another presents her own interpretation and re-creation of astronomical diagrams, most importantly of the Moon. By combining the original, historical images with her own, in Imaging the Moon Karimi aims to create imaginary astronomical pages – a blend of the whimsical and archival. This layering process is her way of preserving these early works of astronomy and opens a door to consulting and collaborating with scientists who are long-gone, and their historical documents.
Research
Research for these works was supported by a City of San José Arts and Cultural Exchange Grant (Dublin, Ireland) and a Center for Cultural Innovation Travel Grant (London, UK), enabling the study of historical scientific manuscripts at:
British Library, London, UK (2018)
Chester Beatty, Dublin, Ireland (2019)
