SHINE A LIGHT
Discover five millennia of extraordinary Iranian culture at the V&A
‘Aplace that can warm your heart one day and break it the next.’ This is how the writer Anthony Bourdain once described Iran, a country whose art, design and culture is being explored in all its glory at the V&A this spring. The exhibition, which roams through generations, genders, media and millennia, promises to move visitors in a similarly profound way.
‘People always point out this enormous contrast between Iran’s vibrant creativity and the news headlines,’ says the show’s associate curator Ina Sarikhani Sandmann. ‘But there is a bigger story to tell. There is currently a major cultural flowering happening, with many brilliant contemporary artists, so it’s great to highlight the work in the context of their country’s ancient civilisation. We’re trying to demonstrate the variety of voices there have been, and are, in Iran.’
It’s true that the current cohort of Iranian – especially female – artists is producing particularly compelling work, some in direct response to the country’s political unrest, others focusing on philosophy, nature or poetry. Yet the political is personal, and the V&A is demonstrating that, far from being siloed or specialist, Iranian art has the power to affect, challenge and inspire us all.
One such example is by Shirin Neshat, who lives in exile in New York. Her two-screen video installation Turbulent (1998) contrasts a male and a female vocal performance. ‘While this work tackles the issue of gender identity directly related to Iranian culture, I’ve always felt it held a deeper resonance that went beyond specificities,’ she says. ‘It touches people with the power of its music, and the universality of its theme – which evolves around issues of discriminations, alienation, rebellion and conformity.’
Inclusivity and connecting with a wider audience are also important to the Turner Prize-nominated Shirazeh Houshiary. Now based in London, the installation artist aspires to create ‘a space shared by all humanity’. ‘The idea of nationality can be corrosive,’ she says. ‘My works do not feel Iranian or British – for me, those terms are spurious.’ Her sculpture Pupa (2014), a twisting vortex of glimmering amethyst glass and mirror-polished steel, depicts nature’s life cycles. ‘My own journey reflects this loop, where movement and change are a continuum,’ she observes.
So they are, too, for the textile sculptor Bita Ghezelayagh who was born in Italy, grew up in Iran, studied in Paris and now lives and works in Britain. The fact that this UK exhibition is happening at a time when Iran is politically isolated and under heavy international sanctions is, she says, ‘simply extraordinary’. ‘As a traveller between East and West, I can only count on institutions around the world to perpetuate cultural exchange and a desire for closeness,’ she reflects. ‘Iran has a youthful population that longs to present itself to the outside world with integrity.’ This 5,000-year retrospective, in its exceptional scope and beauty, is a good start. ‘Epic Iran’ is at the V&A (www. vam.ac.uk) until 12 September.