From Iran: A Visual Testimony
When:
Friday, May 15, 2026 9:00a -
Sunday, Mar 21, 2027 5:00p
Friday, May 15, 2026 9:00a -
Sunday, Mar 21, 2027 5:00p
Where:
Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge and Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge
Cambridge, MA 02138
Admission:
Unknown
Hosted by:
Categories:
Art, Good for Groups, Photoworthy
Event website:
https://peabody.harvard.edu/iran-visual-testimony
New Exhibition
Friday, May 15, 2026–Sunday, March 21, 2027
Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge
Created over the course of fourteen years, Azadeh Akhlaghi’s project stages and photographs pivotal moments from Iran’s tumultuous twentieth-century history. Drawing on meticulous archival research and her background in cinema, she casts professional and nonprofessional actors and photographs each scene from multiple angles to reimagine historical events as complex tableaux, set in real locations in Iran.
In sixteen images—three presented as large-scale prints—Akhlaghi depicts eleven pivotal incidents highlighting the cycle of successful and failed efforts by Iranians to reclaim control of their country between 1908—when the Shah quashed the first National Assembly—and 1979, when the monarchy was overthrown and Islamic rule began.
Photo: Detail of The First Iranian Women’s Movement, Dr. Kahhal’s Office, Tehran | December 1, 1911 © Azadeh Akhlaghi
