Mina Rastgartalab Tabrizi

Known as Nina Rastgar (b. 1988) is an interdisciplinary artist and educator who works across performance, sculpture, and installation, utilizing activism as a medium. They were raised among the Gilaki ethnic communities of Gilan Province, a region renowned for its rich food culture, where they worked alongside farmers and artisans. Nina earned a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Engineering in Gilan, where they developed a lasting connection between hand and mind, an approach that continues to shape their artistic practice. They were also a long-time member of the Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts Organization of Gilan, where they worked in gardening and farming while creating wearable wooden handicrafts, further expanding their interdisciplinary relationship with material, land, and cultural critique.

Nina completed their MFA as a Presidential Fellow and Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of South Carolina. Since 2022, they have taught Introduction to Metalsmithing and Jewelry and have contributed to a variety of interdisciplinary courses within the School of Visual Arts and Design. Their pedagogy emphasizes hands-on learning, conceptual inquiry, and social awareness, drawing from personal experience to explore collective narratives, with a deep sensitivity to material language and cultural critique. Their work has received both national and international recognition, with exhibitions in Turkey, France, Italy, Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Iran.