Saturday May 23, 2026 | 2:00 – 4:00pm
Location: RU House at Colonels Row, Building #404B on Governors Island (map)
Ferry information | Video directions
Free Workshop
Limited to 12 participants. RSVP required.
In this hands-on workshop led by Nazanin Noroozi (2021-2022 NYCASHRP/RU alum), participants are invited to explore memory and storytelling by creating a handmade accordion book (also known as a leporello). Using personal materials such as family photographs, letters, rejected prints, collage fragments and found ephemera, participants will build a small artist’s book that unfolds as a visual narrative.
Nazanin Noroozi will introduce a simple bookbinding technique and offer prompts to help participants connect images, fragments, and memories. No prior experience in art or bookmaking is required. This workshop is about honoring what each person brings with them, the stories, scraps, and their perspective, and shaping them into something meaningful with hands. Participants can work visually, with text, abstractly, or in any combination.
By the end of the session, each participant will leave with a unique handmade book that reflects their personal story.
Participants are encouraged to bring personal materials such as:
- Family photographs (originals or photocopies are fine)
- Rejected prints, test prints, or scraps from past projects
- Ephemera such as old letters, ticket stubs, postcards, receipts, or packaging
- Magazine cutouts or collage materials
- Journals, notes, or fragments of writing
- Anything else from their personal archives
- Participants may also bring scissors, glue sticks, or small decorative materials if they have them. Additional materials will be provided.
About
Nazanin Noroozi is a multidisciplinary artist working with moving images, printmaking, and alternative photography to explore collective history, longing, and displacement. Her work has been exhibited at The Print Center (PA), SPACES (Cleveland, OH), Athopos (Athens, Greece), Golestani Gallery (Düsseldorf, Germany), the Immigrant Artist Biennial (NY), Baxter St at CCNY (NY), the Noyes Museum of Art (NJ), New York Live Arts, and the School of Visual Arts, among others.
She has received fellowships and awards from the New York Foundation for the Arts (Film & Video), the Marabeth Cohen-Tyler Print/Paper Fellowship at Dieu Donné, Powerhouse Arts, the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, and MASS MoCA. Her work has been featured in the British Journal of Photography, Die Zeit Magazine, BBC News Persian, Elephant Magazine, and the Financial Times. Noroozi’s works are held in public collections including the New York Public Library, Harvard Art Museums, Arizona State University, and the University of Michigan.
She is Editor-at-Large of Kaarnamaa: A Journal of Art History and Criticism and lives and works in New York City.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
RU is grateful for the partnership with Governors Island Arts.
