‘Epic Iran’ puts 5,000 years of artefacts on show at London’s Victoria and Albert museum

The exhibition is made up of 10 sections, including “The Persian Empire”, spanning the Achaemenid period, “Change of Faith”, which focuses on the role of Islam in Iranian culture and “Literary Excellence” looking at Persian poetry.

“It’s only quite recently that people are recognising that Iran has got this wonderful, rich artistic tradition, wonderful cultural heritage stretching back many, many, many years,” co-curator John Curtis told Reuters.

Artefacts on show, either collected over time by the museum or on loan, include ancient relics such as the Cyrus Cylinder and Lion Rhyton as well as more contemporary items like Shirin Aliabadi’s photograph of a woman blowing bubblegum.

“Obviously it’s been a very difficult time to put together an exhibition … it hasn’t been possible to bring objects from Iran,” Curtis said, referring to the COVID-19 pandemic and sanctions reimposed on Iran after former U.S. President Donald Trump exited a 2015 nuclear deal in 2018.

“We have had to source objects from other places and I think we’ve been very successful in doing that … what you see here gives everybody a rounded picture of the great civilisations of Iran.”