Flagbearer: Minnesota-based Iranian artist wins national visual arts prize

Ziba Rajabi wants to explore rituals of collective grief over millennia, specifically those rooted in Persian mythical history and literature.

To do this, the Minnesota-based Iranian artist will draw inspiration from the Kotál (کتل), a cylindrical embroidered flag used in processions.

“This project is a part of ongoing research about grieving and mourning rituals in the Iranian plateau and Mesopotamia throughout history,” Rajabi says.

The project will become a reality because of a new $20,000 national arts award, the DAG Prize for Visual Arts. On July 22, the DAG Foundation announced Rajabi as the inaugural awardee. 

The foundation was started in New York a few years ago by musician couple Alyssa and Douglas Graham of the alt-pop band The Grahams.

“Her proposal for ‘Kotál,’ a fabric-based installation exploring collective sentiments, is unique and beautiful in a way that feels very authentic and honest,” the Grahams said in a written statement to MPR News. “Her work tells a story which feels quite personal and also universal.”

The $20,000 prize will enable Ziba Rajabi to build upon her previous series "Zarīh," pictured here, which is a multimedia installation that explores longing, sorrow and joy.

Courtesy of Rik Sferra

Rajabi says “Kotál” is a continuation of her past multimedia art installations, including "Glitched Home” and “Zarīh” which she completed as part of the 2023-2024 MCAD-Jerome Foundation Fellowship for Early Career Artists.

Like “Kotál,” these immersive artworks also explored collective emotions and Rajabi’s connection to and displacement from her home country of Iran. 

Rajabi grew up in Tehran and moved to the U.S. in 2017 for the MFA program at the University of Arkansas. In 2022, she relocated to Minnesota. This fall, she will begin teaching painting and drawing at St. Olaf College in Northfield.

“It seems that my work is getting more and more about just the love that I have for the land that I'm coming from,” Rajabi says. “I’m realizing it now more than before.”

For “Kotál,” Rajabi plans to make 10 to 20 flags, varying in size from 6 to 20 feet. They will go on view, illuminated by colored lights and accompanied by a soundtrack composed by Minneapolis Iranian musician Aida Shahghasemi, in spring 2026 as part of a group show at the Soo Visual Arts Center in Minneapolis.

The flags “are usually adorned with calligraphy and visual elements,” Rajabi says. “This time, I’m actually making a feminine twist to it, and I’m making an homage for all the women who lost their lives for the pursuit of freedom throughout history.”