Grand ‘Epic Iran’ Exhibition Held at Victoria and Albert Museum in London
The renowned Victoria and Albert Museum in London is hosting a major cultural and artistic exhibition titled ‘Epic Iran’.
According to Reuters, this valuable collection includes ancient sculptures, contemporary photographs, and works that showcase five thousand years of Iranian culture, art, and design.
Epic Iran, which opens this week at the Albert and Victoria Museum, is the first collection of such magnitude displayed to the public in Britain in the last ninety years.
According to museum officials, the exhibition, which will be publicly unveiled on Saturday, includes over 300 works belonging to ancient, Islamic, and contemporary Iran, including manuscripts, ceramics, carpets, and photographs.
Epic Iran consists of ten diverse sections. Among the fascinating sections of this collection are ‘The Persian Empire’ focusing on the Achaemenid period, ‘Religious Transformation’ and the impact of Islam on Iranian culture, and ‘Literary Excellence’ focusing on Persian poetry.
John Curtis, one of the exhibition’s curators, tells Reuters that people have recently realized that Iran possesses remarkable and ancient art, and an extraordinary cultural heritage that dates back to very ancient times.
The works in this collection have either been gathered over time or borrowed by the organizers, including ancient works such as the Cylinder of Cyrus the Great, the Lion Rhyton, or contemporary works such as a photograph by Shirin Aliabadi showing a woman blowing a bubble.
He adds that the organizers were forced to obtain historical and artistic works from other sources, and they succeeded in this task, as this collection provides a complete picture of the great Iranian civilizations.
John Curtis, referring to the global coronavirus pandemic and the sanctions imposed by former US President Donald Trump against Iran, which made the export of historical and artistic works from the country impossible, describes the compilation of this collection as a difficult and challenging project.
This exhibition will continue until September 12, 2021.
Source: Voice of America
