B|ta'arof Magazine is a labor of love. It is driven by the volunteer efforts of a whole host of contributors — and a small team of editors. These editors, who initially imagined and now regularly orchestrate the logistics of the project, include:
Arash Davari, Managing Editor: Arash Davari was born in Iran, raised in Los Angeles. He holds an MA in Rhetoric from UC Berkeley and is currently a PhD candidate at UCLA. His research considers the relationship between narrative and political theory in modern Iran.
Contact: arash@btaarof.com
Golnar Nikpour, Production Editor: G.S. Nikpour was born in Tehran, Iran and raised in New York, where she currently resides. She served for three years as the editor-in-chief/co-coordinator of Maximum Rocknroll Magazine -- the longest running DIY punk fanzine in the world. She is currently a PhD candidate at Columbia University where she studies modern Iranian intellectual and political history.
Contact: golnar@btaarof.com
Mani Parcham, Content Editor: Mani Parcham was born in Iran, raised in Washington D.C. He has recently completed his Masters of Fine Arts at The New School, and is currently a freelance writer based in the greater D.C. area where he is working on his first novel.
Contact: mani@btaarof.com
Afsoon Talai, Visual Arts Editor and Graphic Designer: Afsoon Talai was born and raised in Oklahoma. She graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design where she received her BFA in Graphic Design. She currently resides in New York City where she works as a freelance designer. Afsoon is CEO of Golreezan.com.
Contact: afsoon@btaarof.com
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Ali Bakhtiari is a Tehran-based curator who started his career in 2008 with a retrospective of Faramarz Pilaram in Tehran's 66 Gallery. He has since had shows in Saatchi Gallery, Salsali Private Museum, Shirin NY, and Lawrie Shabibi, among others. Along with his curating work, Ali runs ABBookness, which focuses on the production of artist books, including releases by Farideh Lashai, Parviz Tanavoli, and Parvaneh Etemadi. Ali is also constantly digging for Iranian vinyl and has written about it in the discography book series IRAN:RPM.
Mitra Ebadolahi was born in Tehran, Iran and raised in Southern California. She is an attorney whose areas of expertise include constitutional litigation, immigrants' rights, national security, and international human rights law. Her great loves include poetry, modern art and design, travel, and puppies of all shapes and sizes.
Arash Saedinia was born in Esfahan and raised in Los Angeles. He is a graduate of Berkeley (B.A, Peace & Conflict Studies, Political Science), Northridge (M.A., English), and Harvard (J.D.). Saedinia is an artist (film, photography, poetry), curator (music, visual arts), and educator (critical thinking, creative writing).
Solmaz Sharif was born in Istanbul and raised, mostly, in Los Angeles. She is currently a Stegner Fellow in poetry at Stanford University.