CF STUDIES JOURNAL 09 - Flipbook - Page 141
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EXHIBITION REVIEW: Epic Iran, Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Fig. 4 / Qaran Unhorses
Barman, a folio from the
Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp,
Tabriz, ca. 1525-1535, opaque
watercolour, ink, silver, and
gold on paper, The Sarikhani
Collection.
EXHIBITION REVIEW: Epic Iran, Victoria and Albert Museum, London
the Imam ‘Ali fighting a demon that was once part of a
manuscript used for fortune-telling at the Safavid court
and an illustration to a story showing a cross-dressing
Islamic warrior dancing before a king. Unfortunately,
the interpretation given in didactic materials provides
only a cursory overview of Islam’s introduction and
the distinctions between its Sunni and Shi`i branches,
leaving visitors to speculate about the more complex
meanings held within these works for themselves. One
of the most spectacular manuscript paintings in the
exhibition is the magnificent Horoscope of Iskandar Sultan
(fig. 5), a double-page painting depicting the position of
the stars on the day of Iskandar Sultan’s birth in 1384
CE. Although on display in this gallery, to see it requires
good luck or patience, as the light-sensitive work on
loan from the Wellcome Collection is illuminated only
briefly every quarter-hour, and is otherwise covered in
complete shadow.
Passing by a pair of robes-of-honour, one magnificently
woven in metal-wrapped silk, an impressive gallery
devoted to the theme of royal patronage is revealed.
Full-scale reproductions of tilework designs, including
an animated digital projection of a dome, transport
the visitor to the city of Isfahan (fig. 6). This room
in particular presents a compelling story about the
V&A’s own interests in the arts of Iran: the museum
commissioned these to-scale paintings of Isfahan’s
tile designs in the 1870s as part of a broader scheme
to record globally significant architectural ornament.
With a carpet placed horizontally on a slightly elevated
platform, tile designs reproduced on the walls and
rising toward the ceiling, and two large-scale paintings
of figures within an architectural setting placed at
eye level, this gallery effectively gives the visitor an
opportunity to consider how such objects interacted
within their original display context.
A mesmerizing audio recording of a woman reciting
verses by the thirteenth-century poet Sa‘di beckons the
visitor into the next gallery, a twelve-sided room centred
on the theme of literary excellence. This room’s shape
is another nod to Iranian architecture, picking up on a
design strategy seen earlier in the exhibition. Inscribed
ceramics and metalwork alongside manuscripts
and album pages demonstrate the broad reach of
Iran’s rich literary traditions and invite a moment of
contemplation amidst Epic Iran’s expansive galleries. A
small carpet woven with animal forms, scrolling vines,
and poetic verses increases the sense of intimacy in
this gallery, almost as if you could take a seat on its
luxurious pile and appreciate one of the many fine
manuscripts on display nearby.
The next gallery focuses on the nineteenth century in
Iran, featuring paintings, manuscripts, photography,
tiles, and textiles from the Qajar era. This gallery
includes the first reference within the exhibition to the
lives of women at an Iranian court, with a small section
showcasing several examples of women’s clothing and
paintings from a costume album. The language used here
nonetheless centres the male perspective, focusing on the
Qajar king Fath ‘Ali Shah’s preferences for women’s
attire, the number of children he fathered with the
women of his court, and the ways in which the male gaze
operates in depictions of women from this era. Iranian
classical music plays overhead, enlivening the displays but
sometimes clashing with audio overheard from the poetry
recitation and two contemporary video works that follow.
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