In conjunction with the "Walls of Martyrdom": Tehran's Propaganda Murals
A Photo Exhibit by Fotini Christia
Exhibition Design by Ghazal Abbasy-Asbagh

This exhibit draws from a collection of over 130 images of the towering political murals that dominate Tehran's urban space. State-sponsored and hand-painted by artists close to the regime, they provide an insider's view of the Islamic Republic's psyche at a time when Iran makes daily headlines. Thematically, the murals feature images of the fathers of the Islamic Revolution and martyrs of the Iran-Iraq war, as well as explicitly anti-U.S. and anti-Israel messages. The exhibit employs mixed visual media such as a fifty-foot-long cityscape design, depicting a number of murals in their urban context; installations simulating martyrs' shrines; and mega-banner replicas, as well as superimposed murals on a digital map of Tehran, giving a sense of their sheer number and geographic spread around the city. The primary objective is to document and present images that are part of Tehranians' daily visual experience and of which people in the U.S. are largely oblivious.

Dates: May 18-June 15
Location: CGIS South Concourse Gallery, 1730 Cambridge Sreet, MA 02138

Opening Reception: Friday May 18, 5:00-7:30 pm

Panel Discussions contextualizing the exhibit:
Friday May 18, 1:00 -5:00 pm, S-020, CGIS South


Panel I: Murals and Martyrdom in the Islamic Republic of Iran

Chair:
Prof. Naghmeh Sohrabi, Lecturer in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, Brandeis University

Discussant:
Prof. Houchang Chehabi, Department of International Relations, Boston University

Participants:

"Animating the Walls in Tehran"
Prof. Michael M.J. Fischer, Department of Anthropology, MIT


"The Writing is on the Wall: Mural Sponsorship in Post-Revolutionary Iran"
Prof. Christiane Gruber, Department of History of Art, Indiana University

"New Visions, New Viewers: Tehran's Post Iran-Iraq War Murals and their Legacy"
Pamela Karimi, PhD Candidate, MIT School of Architecture

"The Historic and Literary Background of Self-Sacrifice in Iran "
Alireza Korangy, PhD Candidate, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University

Panel II: A Comparative Perspective of Martyrdom and Propaganda Art in Iraq, Lebanon, and the Palestinian Territories

Chair :
Prof. Malik Mufti, Department of Political Science, Tufts University

Discussant:
Diana Allan, PhD Candidate, Department of Anthropology, Harvard University

Participants:

"Martyr Posters and the Second Palestinian Intifada: How Violence Becomes Normal in Space and Time"
Lori Allen, Academy Scholar, Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies

"Visual Representations of Power in Ba'thi Iraq"
Prof. Kanan Makiya, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies Program, Brandeis University

"Murals, Billboards, and the Aftermath of War in Lebanon"
Rania Matar, Architect/Photographer

Exhibit Sponsors: The Center for Middle Eastern Studies, the Office of the Provost, and the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University, as well as the ILEX Foundation and Lazslo Vizsla.

For more information: http://www.wcfia.harvard.edu/misc/publications/centerpiece/win07_vol21_no1/feature_christia.html