Solo Exhibition at Nordic Black Theatre, Oslo, 5-24 May, 2025 .
Arian Nowbahari opened his solo exhibition Un-Born, featuring an artist presentation and the screening of his short film Twelve Minutes.
Rooted in themes of identity, migration, and emotion beyond language, Un-Born reflects on the emotional depth of women’s lived experiences through painting and film. With a personal and expressive lens, Nowbahari explores femininity, memory, and silence — drawing inspiration from Norwegian artists such as Astri Welhaven Heiberg.
The evening began with a live presentation on the artistic influences and motivations behind the exhibition, followed by the screening of Twelve Minutes — a short film written and directed by Nowbahari, and produced by New Spring Productions™. The film, like the paintings, navigates the intersection of women’s rights and immigration.
Un-Born invites its audience to reflect — not only on what is visible but on what is unspoken, unseen, and perhaps, never born.
My painting explores the threshold between the outer world and inner emotions, capturing the fragile space between existence and becoming.
Arian Nowbahari
Each piece is an introspection tool, not a fixed image but a process—like a camera that records fleeting impressions rather than a photograph that preserves them.
Painting, for me, is an act of discovery.
It is the momentary glimpse into an abyss of emotions—melancholy, resilience, hope, and loss—before they dissolve.
The observer, in turn, activates the work. The act of looking is a shutter release, merging memory and perception into a new
reality.
Un-Born embodies this transitory state. It is about what persists in uncertainty—unspoken words, unborn possibilities, emotions not yet
fulfilled, and wounds that have not yet healed.
Inspired by neo-expressionism, my work uses strong contrasts and fluid forms to navigate themes of womanhood, migration, and the feelings we often suppress because they make us too alive.
This exhibition does not seek answers but invites reflection on what remains in between—on what is yet to be.”
Arian Nowbahari 