Author: valimahl

MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo

A STORY FOR THE FUTURE. MAXXI’S FIRST DECADE

17 February – 29 August 2021

A Story for the Future. MAXXI’s First Decade. Photo by Musacchio, courtesy Fondazione MAXXI

Curated by Hou Hanru with curatorial and research MAXXI team

A Story for the Future showcases Archaeology of the Final Decade’s “Shiraz-Persepolis” archives as one of MAXXI museum’s highlights of the last decade.

AOTFD exhibited its excavated archives of Festival of Arts, Shiraz-Persepolis and theRecreating the Citadel project at Museo MAXXI in 2014/15, as part of Unedited History: Iran 1960-2014

In 2020, MAXXI celebrates its first 10 year anniversary.  It is an opportunity to reflect on the identity of the museum, to retrace the path taken in the past years and set a direction for the future.  The exhibition, which pivots around five major themes, is conceived as an analysis of the development of MAXXI in response to the great challenges of our time. It does not wish to be a self-referential overview of the museum’s exhibitions, but an “intangible” reinterpretation in a perspective that lays the foundations of a “story for the future”.

Read the press release


Installation views from Unedited History: Iran 1960 – 2014

Retracing a Utopian Stage: Festival of Arts, Shiraz-Persepolis (1967–1977)
in Unedited History: Iran 1960 – 2014
MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo
Rome | 11 December – 29 March 2015

Re-creating Shahr-e No: Kaveh Golestan and the Intimate Politics of the Marginal
in Unedited History: Iran 1960 – 2014
MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo
Rome | 11 December – 29 March 2015

Victoria & Albert Museum (London)

Epic Iran

29 May – 21 September 2021

Material from AOTFD and Golestan Estate exhibited at the V&A’s Epic Iran exhibition.

We have contributed visual material from various archives: Festival of Arts, Shiraz-Persepolis, revolution and war photographs by Kaveh Golestan, and photographs from Hengameh Golestan’s Witness ‘79 series.

Epic Iran explores 5,000 years of Iranian art, design and culture, bringing together over 300 objects from ancient, Islamic and contemporary Iran. Iran was home to one of the great historic civilisations, yet its monumental artistic achievements remain unknown to many. Epic Iran explores this civilisation and the country’s journey into the 21st century, from the earliest known writing – signalling the beginning of history in Iran – through to the 1979 Revolution and beyond.

Ranging from sculpture, ceramics and carpets, to textiles, photography and film, the works in this exhibition reflect the country’s vibrant historic culture, architectural splendours, the abundance of myth, poetry and tradition that have been central to Iranian identity for millennia, and the evolving, self-renewing culture evident today.

The exhibition is organised by the V&A with the Iran Heritage Foundation in association with The Sarikhani Collection. Curated by: Dr John Curtis (Academic Director, IHF), Tim Stanley (Senior Curator, V&A), Ina Sarikhani Sandmann (Director, the Sarikhani Collection), Sarah Piram (Project Curator, V&A), Dr Alex Magub (Exhibition Research Assistant, V&A), Astrid Johansen (Director of Operations, IHF).

Read the press release


Acquisition news

To coincide with Epic Iran, the V&A would like to acquire a set of ten of Golestan’s Polaroids for their collection. We would like to assist in the fundraising efforts to place these works in the V&A’s collection, one of the largest and most important photography collections in the world, and preserve Golestan’s legacy as a historically significant photographer.

Discover more details about the acquisition and how to support it here