Letters to the Art World

In an age of constant connection, distance persists.

Bisheh Project emerged from a need for a slower, more direct form of exchange, one grounded in attention, material presence, and time. Each month, artists and art professionals write letters to the art world: to its future, to their younger selves, or to those who may need their words. These letters are printed, mailed, and preserved as part of an evolving archive.

Bisheh is both a publishing initiative and a living archive. Over time, these letters form a growing body of contemporary voices, preserving personal narratives alongside the physical trace of handwriting in an increasingly digital world. At its core, the project is not only about communication, but about presence: the act of writing, holding, and receiving.

A letter arrives. It is held. It remains.

Why “Bisheh”?

In Persian, Bisheh refers to a dense, untamed woodland, rich with trees and undergrowth. In literature, it is more than a landscape; it is a space of retreat, reflection, and transformation. Bisheh is where one wanders without a fixed path, where silence becomes generative, and where the unknown holds both risk and revelation. Untamed and symbolic, it evokes a space beyond order: a place of solitude, spirit, and possibility.

Negin Mahzoun
Artist, Founder of Bisheh Project