Issue 40 winter 23 web - Flipbook - Page 99
Love gifts from Vita Sackville-West to
Virginia Woolf and Harold Nicolson
are reunited as Sissinghurst explores
writer’s travels around Persia
l New exhibition will explore how travels to Persia, now modern-day Iran, in the 1920s inspired Vita and husband
Harold in the design of Sissinghurst’s garden and interiors as well as their writing and relationships
l Keepsakes from Vita to Harold, at Sissinghurst, and to her lover Virginia Woolf at Monk’s House, are reunited
and displayed together for the first time in nearly a century
l Two pieces of sculpture found by Vita in the ancient ruins of Persepolis, and given as love gifts, are among
exhibition highlights
l Dozens of photographs of couple’s travels not displayed in public before include their time at Tehran Embassy
and the Coronation of the Shah
l Research by the National Trust with academic partners has helped to identify objects and uncover new
information for the exhibition
Objects and photographs – some of which have never
been on public display before - from travels to Persia, now
modern-day Iran, by writer Vita Sackville-West and her
husband Harold Nicolson are the focus of a new exhibition opening on Saturday 14 October at their former
home, Sissinghurst Castle Garden in Kent.
Vita and Harold were two of the most high-profile cultural
figures of their generation. They wrote vividly about their
experiences in the mid-1920s, their responses channelling
a growing fascination for all things ‘Persian’. They
witnessed a time of change as Persia became Iran and
Vita’s travelogues in particular offer glimpses of this time.
Focussing on the period 1925 to 1927, 'A Persian Paradise’
will tell the story of how the region inspired Harold
and Vita, from the design for Sissinghurst’s garden and
interiors to their writing and personal relationships.
The National Trust has led research into letters, diaries
and other material with academic partners to examine in
more detail the collections at Vita’s home Sissinghurst,
The exhibition includes keepsakes and gifts from Vita to
her lover Virginia Woolf that will be displayed together
for the first time in nearly a century, along with
photographs taken at various historic sites.
Below, Object from the Persian Paradise exhibition at
Sissinghurst Castle Garden, Kent ©National Trust
Images James Beck.