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The Iran Heritage Foundation is delighted to announce the details
of the upcoming exhibition
EPIC IRAN13 February – 30 August 2021
V&A, London | | | |
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Detached folio from an illuminated
manuscript of the Shahnameh for Shah Tahmasp, 1525-1535,
Tabriz. The Sarikhani Collection,
I.MS.4025. Photo: © The Sarikhani Collection | |
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| | | | The exhibition is organised by the V&A with the Iran Heritage Foundation, in association with The Sarikhani Collection. IHF has spent much of the last two years working towards this exciting project and we are very proud that the exhibition has been co-curated by Dr John Curtis, IHF’s Academic Director. Opening in February 2021, Epic Iran will explore 5,000 years of Iranian art, design and culture, bringing together more than 300 objects from ancient, Islamic and contemporary Iran. It will be the UK’s first major exhibition in 90 years to present an overarching narrative of Iran from 3000 BC to the present day. Iran was home to one of the great historic civilisations, yet its monumental artistic achievements remain unknown to many. Epic Iran will explore this civilisation and the country’s journey into the 21st century, from the earliest known writing through to the 1979 Revolution and beyond. Ranging from sculpture, ceramics and carpets, to textiles, photography and film, works will reflect the country’s vibrant historic culture, architectural splendours, the abundance of myth, poetry and tradition that have been central to Iranian identity for millennia, and the evolving, self-renewing culture evident today. From the Cyrus Cylinder and intricate illuminated manuscripts of the Shahnameh, to ten-metre-long paintings of Isfahan tilework, Shirin Neshat’s powerful two-screen video installation Turbulent, and Shirin Aliabadi’s striking photograph of a young woman blowing bubblegum, the exhibition will offer a fresh perspective on a country that is so often seen through a different lens in the news. | | | |
| | Tristram Hunt, Director of the V&A says: “Ninety years since the last major UK exhibition to cover 5,000 years of Iranian art, design and culture, Iran has undergone significant changes and the cultural landscape has changed dramatically. ‘Epic Iran’ will serve a vital purpose in enabling audiences in Britain to discover more about one of the world’s great historic civilisations and its incredible creative output in the 21st century. This landmark exhibition will unite the ancient and Islamic study of Iran – often seen as two separate disciplines – alongside a powerful modern and contemporary section, allowing the Iranian people’s artistic achievements across millennia to be considered in their entirety." | |
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Armlet, 500-330 BC, from the Oxus Treasure
© Victoria and Albert Museum, London | |
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| | | Dish showing a king hunting ibexes and gazelles, about 484-629 The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. Photograph © The State Hermitage Museum, 2021/photo by Alexander Koksharov | |
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John Curtis (Academic Director, IHF),
Epic Iran co-curator: “Visitors will be astonished by the quality and
variety of objects from Ancient Iran, showing that it had a civilisation every
bit as advanced and prosperous as those in neighbouring Mesopotamia and Egypt.
It will be clear that the Persian Empire, founded in 550 BC, inherited a very
rich legacy from earlier periods of Iranian history.”
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Horoscope of Iskandar Sultan, 1411
Courtesy Wellcome Collection | |
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Woman’s jacket, blouse and skirt, 1800–50
© Victoria and Albert Museum, London | |
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Tim Stanley (Senior Curator,
V&A), Epic Iran co-curator: “This exhibition offers a rare
opportunity to look at Iran as a single civilisation over 5,000 years. Objects
and expertise have come together to tell one of the world’s great stories in
art, design and culture. In the Islamic period, political power in Iran was
recast in many different forms, but an overarching sense of history and a deep
devotion to Persian literature survived the turmoil of events. In 1501 the
Imami form of Shi’ism became Iran’s official religion, giving the population a
unifying set of beliefs that set them apart from their neighbours. Shared
beliefs, memories of a glorious past and a joy in Persian poetry are still a
vital part of life in Iran today.”
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Sirak Melkonian, Veiled Women, 1957.
© Sirak Melkonian. Photo: Peter Kelleher/Victoria and Albert Museum, London. | |
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Shirin Aliabadi, Miss Hybrid #3, 2008. Photograph © Estate of Shirin Aliabadi | |
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Ina Sarikhani Sandmann
(Director, The Sarikhani Collection), Epic Iran associate curator: “Contemporary
Iranian art is dynamic and exciting, critically self-examining and engaged in
the global world, and both intellectual and playful. The rich variety and
quality, often radical and experimental and unapologetic in playing with themes
such as gender, politics and religion, may surprise visitors – and helps
explain why Iran’s long legacy of culture continues to be so relevant to the
world today.”
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| | | | Please Support the Iran Heritage Foundation
You can help us to continue our work and activities, and any donations would be gratefully received, especially in these challenging times. IHF depends on the generosity of individuals and corporations for its funding and does not accept donations from any government or political organisations. Click here to donate. | | | |
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