Shahnameh: The Perpetual Narrative, curtain II

This year marks the Millennium of the passing of Epic Poet of Persians, Hakim Abul Ghasem Ferdowsi, whose Shahnameh, The Book of Kings, is credited with preservation of our language and Persian history. To mark this occasion we are exhibiting works by nine artists, with diverse practices, as continuation of a project that started five years ago. In March 4th 2016, we held an exhibition titled, Shahnameh, The Perpetual Narrative: A survey of Impact of Shahnameh on modern and contemporary art of Iran, curated by Akram Ahmadi Tavana. The catalogue’s foreword was by Dr.Firuza Melville and included works of twenty two artists.

Shahnameh’s influence remains strong in poetry and visual arts of Iran, and the selection for this exhibition is merely a portion of this enduring fascination with thousands of verses recalling the glory and splendor as well as failures and defeats of Persians, to quote Shahrokh Meskoob, “the history of the victory of defeat.”